SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
The technology to enable self-driving vehicles is maturing faster and faster these days. Google, Delphi, and others are testing their autonomous cars on the streets of California and elsewhere, taking journalists for rides and even getting into the occasional fender-bender. Audi is one of the car makers leading the charge for autonomous vehicles, and it's been demoing its technology on the racetrack. Last year the company showed off a self-driving RS7 called "Bobby" at the season finale of the German equivalent of NASCAR. Today, the company announced that Bobby's smarter, lighter sibling "Robby" has been taking to the track here in the US, and he's faster than ever.
Robby has been putting Audi's autonomous driving tech to the test at Sonoma Raceway in California, 90 minutes north of Silicon Valley. The new car is 882lbs (400kg) lighter than its predecessor, and even with the sensors and processors it's only now approaching the weight of the production RS7. Audi says it isn't just teaching the car to lap for publicity though, the point is to make sure that a self-driving car is capable of exploiting the entire performance envelope of the vehicle.
I've been told by racing fans that it is the possibility of catastrophic human error that keeps them glued to their seats. Would robotic racing take the fun out of it?
(Score: 2) by Gravis on Wednesday July 15 2015, @12:14AM
I've been told by racing fans that it is the possibility of catastrophic human error that keeps them glued to their seats. Would robotic racing take the fun out of it?
the concern for human life is what has held back the sport. if the car isn't 100% stable, someone could die and that's what's preventing people from having more aggressive races. i think there would far more aggressive competition if there were no worries about people getting hurt. however, if they are going to be risking exploding their cars often, they will need to build them much cheaper too. entertainment is a balancing act, so i think 500 laps in an oval will go out the door and move to something more interesting an challenging like off-road rally racing.