Roborace will be attempting the first-ever fully autonomous hillclimb at Goodwood Festival of Speed 2018. The technology firm's autonomous race car, Robocar, will take on the famous 1.86 km course guided only by automated systems. The vehicle will be tasked with navigating hay bales, flint walls and forests on the Goodwood estate, using a variety of sensors that give it 360-degree machine vision around the car.
"We are excited that the Duke of Richmond has invited us to make history at Goodwood as we attempt the first ever fully - and truly - autonomous uphill climb using only artificial intelligence," said Lucas di Grassi, CEO of Roborace. In addition to the historic run, visitors to the Festival of Speed will also be able to enjoy the hillclimb from the Robocar's point of view in a custom, fully immersive VR experience in the Roborace booth, located inside Future Lab.
The autonomous run presents a milestone for the Goodwood event as the Festival of Speed celebrates its 25th anniversary.
"I can't think of a more exciting way to celebrate our Silver Jubilee than to have Roborace attempt the first autonomous race car run up the hill," said Charles Gordon-Lennox, the Duke of Richmond and Founder of the Festival of Speed. "Roborace plays an important role in the future of mobility, challenging public perceptions and providing a platform to advance new technologies. This makes them the perfect partner to undertake this significant feat."
Robocar, the world's first autonomous race car, was designed by Daniel Simon and weighs 1,350 kg and is powered by four 135kW electric motors used to power each wheel, for a combined 500-plus horses. An NVIDIA DRIVE PX 2 computer processes Robocar's data, which includes inputs from the LiDAR, radar, GPS, ultrasonic, and camera sensors.
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 is led by ARRIVAL, the automotive technology company.
