First-Ever Driverless Race Car Completes Goodwood Hillclimb

Roborace's Robocar became the first ever driverless race car to complete the Hillclimb at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. The electric, driverless race car navigated the famous 1.16 mile course at the Goodwood estate using artificial intelligence and the run is the first in the history of Goodwood to be completed by a race car that has no human driver in the car. The milestone event is reached as Goodwood celebrates the 25th anniversary of the Festival of Speed. Robocar, the world's first autonomous race car, was designed by Daniel Simon, the automotive futurist known for his work in Hollywood films such as Oblivion and Tron: Legacy.

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Also Read: Roborace To Attempt First Autonomous Hillclimb At Goodwood Festival of Speed 2018

"We are ecstatic that the team have been able to achieve this landmark run and we hope that it draws attention to the amazing advances that are being made in the automotive industry," said Rod Chong, Deputy CEO, Roborace. "Robocar is an ambassador for the future technologies we will see on our roads and we hope that inspirational stunts like this will change public perceptions of autonomous vehicles."

(First-Ever Driverless Race Car Completes Goodwood Hillclimb)

The Roborace's Robocar wowed the crowds as it took to the Hillclimb, using a variety of sensors located around the vehicle to give it 360-degree vision of its environment. The information provided by these sensors gives Robocar the ability to localize its position on the hill and detect drivable surfaces and objects using deep neural networks. The race car's speed was limited to 120kmph to allow visitors to get a good look at the car on its way up the Hill.

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The Roborace's Robocar weighs 1,350 kg and is powered by four 135kW electric motors used to drive each wheel, for a combined 500 bhp. An NVIDIA DRIVE PX2 computer processes Robocar's data, which includes inputs from the LiDar, radar, GPS, ultrasonic, and camera sensors. The Roborace provides the car with an API as a platform for teams who then add their AI driver algorithm to the vehicle. Development of the automated driving system for the Robocar at Goodwood was led by ARRIVAL, the automotive technology company.