Roborace Proves Human Drivers are Optional in Goodwood Hillclimb

Technology firm Roborace succeeded at making history at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed. Its Robocar was the first autonomous race car ever to climb the hill at the event, and as you can see in the video below, it did a pretty good job.

Automated computer systems and a variety of sensors give the car a 360-degree view of its surroundings. This technology includes an Nvidia Drive PX2 computer, radar, lidar, ultrasonic, GPS, and camera sensors. Trees block satellite signals along much of the course, making it unhelpful to rely much on GPS, however.

Under the sheetmetal, the Robocar employs four 135-kilowatt electric motors that power each wheel. All together, these motors produce more than 500 hp. The car is the work of Daniel Simon, former senior designer at Bugatti and creator of fantasy vehicles for Hollywood films such as Tron: Legacy and Oblivion.

The Robocar wasn’t the only autonomous vehicle to make its way up the hillclimb course, however. An autonomous 1965 Ford Mustang, commissioned by Siemens and the Cransfield University in the U.K., managed to climb the hill, although a bit slower and less gracefully. The pioneering autonomous hillclimbs were performed just in time for the 25^th anniversary of the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Source: Goodwood, Goodwood Road & Racing via YouTube

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