We’ve only just gotten used to cars that drive themselves, but now there’s a new trend coming around the bend. Formula One, known for cars breaking the sound barrier and peeling around the corners at breakneck speeds, has found a new competitor. With hopes of giving birth to a new breed of racing, the geniuses behind Formula One are hard at work with their latest sport.
Roborace, a futuristic take on racing, will be held by entirely unmanned vehicles. Designed to draw in crowds of younger viewers with its sci-fi bend, Roborace will combine the speed of the F1 racing with the precision of computer-driven vehicles. An offshoot of Formula E, the latest addition to the Formula One lineage, Roborace is part of a movement toward greener, healthier ways to race.
Touting their latest project as a fusion of future tech and modern modality, the brilliant minds behind Roborace are hopeful that showing how seamlessly the two cooperate will fill seats with eager viewers. Additionally, DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) has put up a large cash sum for any able developer able to race across the Mojave Desert in an unmanned vehicle. To this day, only one group has been able to cross the finish line, but the competition, designed to drive the production of smarter unmanned vehicles, has drawn plenty of attention.
Designed to tax the automation systems of driverless cars, this project is equal parts new sport and product test. While automated vehicles have become a reality, the programs that operate them have yet to be put to any real speed test. Roborace may not only be the most futuristic race to date but the birthplace of advanced driving A.I. For more information on this science fiction subject, follow the link here.