Watch Roborace’s Self-Driving Race Car Tear Up the Track

The autonomous race car is vaporware no longer.

byAaron Brown|
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When they finally arrive en masse, driverless cars will likely show little remorse in taking human jobs. The days are already numbered for taxi drivers and long-haul truckers; now, a new video of Roborace's self-driving race car blasting itself around an open race track is visual proof that race card rivers might be the next ones to have their jobs on the chopping block.

DevBot, the car seen in the video uploaded to the Roborace YouTube channel this week, is the test mule for the various freshly-developed technologies set to be put to the test in Roborace's upcoming autonomous car race program. Though its physical looks aren't meant to represent what the final "Robocar" racer will look like—the real thing will be far more futuristic-looking—the DevBot uses the same drivetrain and autonomous hardware as that car. It's pretty much your standard automotive test mule...except it's made for racing, and it can be driven by either a person or a computer.

To get the Robocars driving around race tracks, Roborace is using multiple lidar and radar sensors mounted around the car, along with a GPS system and a supercomputer provided by Nvidia. The final race-ready vehicle, complete with actual bodywork, is set to be unveiled later this year.

Roborace is a Formula E support race series that shares its tracks with the electric racing league. Financial backing comes from technology venture capital firm Kinitek, which will select 10 teams for the series. For more details on Roborace's background, check out The Drive's exclusive interview with the CEO of Formula E.

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