Race enthusiasts next year will be able to enjoy a human-free race with the introduction of ROBORACE (yes, all caps, because robots deserve your respect). The one-hour races will be part of the FIA Formula E Championship and will take place before each Formula E event, using the same circuits in major cities around the world. There will be 10 teams, each with two driverless cars, using real-time computing algorithms and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies.
“We passionately believe that, in the future, all of the world’s vehicles will be assisted by AI and powered by electricity, thus improving the environment and road safety,” Denis Sverdlov, founder of Kinetik and ROBORACE, said in a statement. “ROBORACE is a celebration of revolutionary technology and innovation that humanity has achieved in that area so far. It’s a global platform to show that robotic technologies and AI can co-exist with us in real life. Thus, anyone who is at the edge of this transformation now has a platform to show the advantages of their driverless solutions and this shall push the development of the technology.”
Even though electronic, driverless automotive technology is available, ROBORACE officials believe that there are talented individuals around the world that would want to participate in the event, so one of the race teams will be organized as a crowd-sourced community team.
“We are very excited to be partnering with Kinetik on what is surely one of the most cutting-edge sporting events in history,” Alejandro Aga, CEO of Formula E, said in a statement. “ROBORACE is an open challenge to the most innovative scientific and technology-focused companies in the world. It is very exciting to create a platform for them to showcase what they are capable of, and I believe there is great potential for us to unearth the next big idea through the unique crowd-sourced contest.”
More details about the teams will be announced next year.
(Image: FIA Formula E)
