Driverless race car completes Hillclimb
Roborace’s Robocar became the first ever driverless race car to complete the hillclimb at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.
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 – a huge milestone moment for the Festival, which this year is celebrating its 25 anniversary.
Visitors to Goodwood over the weekend will also get the chance to see the feat first-hand again, as Robocar will be attempting the hillclimb once each day on Saturday and Sunday of the event.
The electric race car 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 120kph to allow visitors to get a good look at the car on its way up the hill.
‘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 of 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.’
Visitors to the Festival can also experience this historical run from the perspective of Robocar in the FoS Future Lab – a technology showcase located in a pavilion on the Goodwood law. Inside the exhibition, Roborace is offering visitors the chance to try out a fully immersive VR simulator.
