ROBORACE Introducing Autonomous Auto Racing For 2016-17 Season

Cameron Aubernon
by Cameron Aubernon

FIA’s Formula E first brought its electrified take on open-wheel racing in 2014. Come 2016, the series will bring autonomous racing to the party, as well.

Which begs the question: Is it still racing if there are no drivers in the cars?

Through a partnership with technology investment company Kinetik, Formula E’s 2016-17 season will do away with the driver entirely in a new support series dubbed ROBORACE. Ten teams will field two autonomous cars each, competing on the same circuits as the main Formula E series in one-hour races throughout the entirety of the championship season. The cars will be identical through and through, with “real-time computing algorithms and AI technologies” making the difference between taking the checkered flag first or last.

Per Kinetik founder Denis Sverdlov, “ROBORACE is a celebration of revolutionary technology and innovation that humanity has achieved” in autonomous driving and electric vehicles to date, and is meant to demonstrate how autonomous technology can co-exist with humanity. Formula E CEO Alejandro Agag adds the new series will be “an open challenge to the most innovative scientific and technology-focused companies in the world,” providing a platform for said companies to show the world what they can do.

More information on which programmers will be competing and what technologies will be used is set to come early in 2016.

Cameron Aubernon
Cameron Aubernon

Seattle-based writer, blogger, and photographer for many a publication. Born in Louisville. Raised in Kansas. Where I lay my head is home.

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  • Wmba Wmba on Nov 30, 2015

    What a wonderful day out for the car racing enthusiast. Excitement fills the air. Ticket prices are a bargain at a mere $99 per human including a free falafel, your choice of filling. First one gets to watch autonomous cars filled with "technology" silently battle each other in a tense fight with barely a shrieking tire to be heard. The real action is in the pits where teams at picnic tables stare at laptops while tweaking program parameters with dancing fingers for that ultimate edge. Finally one car takes the electronic checkered flag, this week's roboflag made by Timmy Smith age 14, a rising star in the autonomous flag waving business. Alas, the mechanism breaks, and the fixture falls over, the flag spasmodically flinging gravel as it flops around. Everyone applauds - it is the most dramatic thing they have witnessed so far this day. After this extravaganza, actual organized organic blobs of protein and DNA pilot silent electric cars in the frenzied but silent Formula E race, but nobody notices. They're all having an old-fashioned snooze following their picnic lunches and beer. As the winner is interviewed over a PA system no better than the one at the local stock car track Anytown USA in 1958, rendering his breathless words unintelligible, the crowd is already filing out. And a great time was had by all.

  • Mcs Mcs on Nov 30, 2015

    All they have to do is add some battle-bots style violence to the race and it will be a huge hit.

    • VolandoBajo VolandoBajo on Dec 01, 2015

      The battlebot violence may end up being a byproduct of the coding, thereby eliminating the need for special modifications to the hardware. My question is how long will it be before they discover that there are team entries programmed so as to operate like a roller derby team: some derail, destroy or box in competitors, while their teammates zoom by to the finish line. Imagine demolition derbies with robocars. I guess TTAC decided that you were qualified to write about this even though you have had limited driving experience, Cameron, since there will be limited driving involved in this racing series. (Zero driving to be precise. Just an orchestrated highspeed bumper to bumper traffic jam, is my guess.) I wonder if SW vendors will compete for inclusion in racecars? With legends on their sides such as "database powered by Oracle", "courses tracked by Garmin", "Algorithms by SAS", etc. alongside the more traditional automotive and consumer product endorsements. Though this will not so much be Kasparov vs. Deep Blue, as it will be Deep Blue vs. other AI software. Should be as exciting as watching a large system compilation.

  • Syke Syke on Dec 01, 2015

    I can see it being interesting for the first season, if only for the novelty value. First off, are we talking full scale cars (assuming electric powered, are we talking the size of Formula E cars), or some kind of 3/4, 5/8, 1/2 scale models. Secondly, the possibilities of cheating in this form of "racing" will be fascinating. The first generation cars will invariably look like some form of open wheel racer. Then the revisions start: How long will it take before a race car doesn't look like anything recognizable from the stands as a race car? Without having to fit a driver or care for his welfare, lots of things are possible. Remote control. Which means the cars can be hacked. First, by competing teams and their "drivers". Secondly, from the stands due to fans who want something more interesting than forty laps around the track. What a fun weekend for an Anonymous field trip!

  • Outback_ute Outback_ute on Dec 02, 2015

    I agree that it will be interesting to see how the wheel-to-wheel aspect goes, it is a pretty formidable challenge technically. I presume that they have found a way to preclude simple remote control driving. Actually the Formula E races are not that bad from an entertainment perspective because the cars are closely matched (the no. 2 reason that spoils F1, after aero spoiling overtaking), the drivers are putting it on the line more often compared to a lot of more risk-averse series, and there is still some strategy involved with speed vs battery usage.

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