robocar devbot is world's first driverless racing car

the ‘devbot’ driverless racing car is an electric vehicle designed to allow teams to develop their software and experience the hardware that will be used on the ‘robocar’. the development vehicle for the new autonomous racing car series made its public debut at the donington park, england formula E tests on august the 24th — following secret test runs on airfields and at silverstone, where the car drove itself.

robocar devbot world’s first driverless racing car
video courtesy of roborace

the ‘devbot’ can be driven by a human or computer, providing crucial information on how the car performs against comprehensive data. designed by daniel simon, the car comes equipped with the same sensors, drivetrain, computation and communication technology as the ‘robocar‘.

the driverless racing car features a cockpit for human control

in just under nine months the ‘devbot’ was formed into a fully operational driverless, electric car, custom-made apart from the safety-compliant racing cockpit. the car is currently being used for experimental trials similar to those in the roborace championship, allowing the team to measure certain variables before the pre-qualifying process in september 2016. before roborace university teams, motorsport, technology, automotive and research laboratories will be able to test out the car in the six months leading up to the event.