XPost: rec.autos.sport.f1, rec.autos.sport.nascar, rec.autos.sport.indy

from https://www.motorsport.com/roborace/news/no-driverless-car-first-season/3210582/

(Certainly a trend that will affect the future of auto racing.)

Roborace drops fully driverless car for first season
Scott Mitchell
By: Scott Mitchell
6h ago

The driverless racing car initiative Roborace will commence its
inaugural season with an upgraded version of its autonomous development
car and not the bespoke Robocar revealed last year.
Roborace’s ‘Season Alpha’ is due to launch in spring next year, supporting some Formula E events, and the series will use an evolution
of the development car that can also be driven by a human.

‘DevBot 2.0’ retains the LMP-inspired design of the original mule but
will be rear-wheel-drive instead of all-wheel-drive and has updated
styling and hardware.

Motorsport.com has learned that the initial season will likely comprise
fewer than 10 cars, which will be piloted by a human for one part of the
race and controlled by artificial intelligence for the rest.


The new DevBot will be used for the first two seasons, known as ‘Alpha’
and ‘Beta’.

Roborace CEO and 2016/17 Formula E champion Lucas di Grassi explained
that this is to make the driverless technology clearer to people watching.

“We changed our mind,” di Grassi told Motorsport.com. “The initial idea was to do it with the Robocar.

“The impression of a driver driving and then jumping out much better exemplifies the difference between human and autonomous driving.

“Most importantly, I think motorsport has to have a human component.
It’s always been about human and machine.”

Di Grassi said “six or seven” new cars were being built, that the
company is still developing the software to ensure they can race
head-to-head and the final format is not set.

After evaluating how the concept will work in its ‘Alpha’ and ‘Beta’ seasons, Roborace plans to switch to the Robocar for the category’s
‘full release’ in 2021, which will be considered its first proper season.

The current Robocar, launched officially in early 2017, is completely autonomous and has a bold, unique design with no cockpit. However, this
is likely to change because Roborace wants the final car to be able to
be controlled by a driver.

Di Grassi said the 2021 car would be “like the son of Roborace and
DevBot together” with the latest available technology.

He envisions the final product to have more than 1000kW (1341bhp) of
power, four electric motors and the ability for each motor to control
the power to each wheel.

The ex-Formula 1 driver says two teams have already signed up for
Roborace’s first season, and the calendar is due at the end of the year.

Roborace will supply the hardware, coordinate the logistics of the
series and maintain the cars centrally, with teams only responsible for designing software to keep costs down and ensure the category promotes
specific tech development.

This will enable Roborace to enter one car itself on an open platform
that will allow university students or individuals to develop racing
algorithms themselves, showcase their skills and be hired by the major manufacturers and companies Roborace is hoping to tempt with bespoke
entries.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)