Cars for Stars News

Okay, so we have heard the hype about autonomous car hire services for over two years now, still waiting to see who will win the race out of Uber, Google, Apple and Volvo. With the companies being rather quiet on that front of late there are a few independent companies taking the self-drive limelight.

This week we have seen the trial of nuTonomy, a taxi service in Singapore that offers driverless taxis. Showing some progressing in the industry we have also seen some development here in the UK, with the DevBot aiming to reinvent vehicle racing for the better.

Created by the British firm, Roborace, the company plan to conduct a string of races with their self-drive cars, taking  place as part of the 2016/17 Formula E Championship for manually driven electric cars.

Tapping into the way computers think

The firm has created the DevBot with a cockpit, a safety-compliant cabin where people can observe and take control if necessary, incorporated to help the sceptical understand how technology can think. As a completely custom-made product the car creators have spent years perfecting its sensors, computer “brains” and communication technology, with the unveiling at the Formula E Championships being a rather big deal.

Roborace say that they have received a long list of applications  from “a large number of technology, motorsport, research laboratory and university teams”, suggesting huge interest and competition in this incredibly niche market.

Race Day

On that all important race day ten teams will be permitted to enter two cars each, taking place one hour before each and every FE round. Using the same circuits officials and onlookers will be able to see how technology compares to the human driver.

Let us know what you think, could driverless car racing be the next big thing? Leave your comments below.