Roborace Robocar Release Date, Specs News: Self-Driving Race Car Unveiled at MWC 2017
Roborace, touted as the first racing series for autonomous cars, has finally unveiled the Robocar — the world's first self-driving race car. The vehicle has been in development for about a year and was introduced at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain.
The futuristic-looking Robocar was designed by Daniel Simon, who is known for this work on "Tron: Legacy," "Tron: Uprising," "Captain America: The First Avenger" and "Oblivion."
"Roborace opens a new dimension where motorsport as we know it meets the unstoppable rise of artificial intelligence. We take special pride in revealing a functional machine that stays true to the initial concept shared, a rarity in automotive design and a testament of our determination. It's a great feeling to set this free," said Simon, according to Fortune.
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The self-driving race car was built using carbon fiber and is said to weigh about 2,149 pounds. In terms of dimensions, it is 5 meters long and 2 meters wide. It is also powered by four 300-kW motors that translate to speeds of 199 miles per hour (mph).
The Robocar uses NVIDIA's Drive PX2, a computing platform for autonomous cars, and is powered by five LiDAR sensors, two radar sensors, 18 ultrasonic sensors, six artificial intelligence (AI) cameras and two optical speed sensors. There is also a global navigation satellite system.
The Robocar's operating system also has the capacity for deep learning in order to have situational awareness around the car.
Roborace has partnered with Charge, an electric trunk company, for the Robocar's electronics and motors while Michelin will be providing the self-driving race car's tires.
Roborace has not announced the specific schedule for its racing series but it is expected to commence later this year. Apart from the absence of drivers controlling the race car, what sets this racing series apart is that all teams will essentially use the same Robocar.
This means that the result of the races will not be dependent on drivers' skills or the teams' budgets. The self-driving race car's software will be the determining factor.
