Roborace test mule makes public debut
ByAutoSport
Published 24/08/2016 at 18:09 GMT
Roborace's maiden development vehicle for its autonomous race car ran in public for the first time at Donington Park after day two of Formula E testing.
The machine has Roborace's driverless car technology and an electric powertrain fitted to a Ginetta LMP3 chassis.
'DevBot', as the car has been named, completed an outlap with one of its engineers at the wheel and then almost an entire flying lap before stopping on the start-finish straight.
The driver completed one more lap, stopping at the line again, and did this one more time before driving to the end of the pit straight, and exiting the vehicle.
The car's programming took over and it ran autonomously for almost one lap - but was "stopped intentionally" exiting the final corner, allegedly to follow a safety procedure.
Roborace's final design will be completely different and not have a cockpit for a driver.
For now this chassis is being used so the development team can cross reference real-time data with human experience.
The car appeared following the conclusion of the second day of FE testing, the latest step in the electric single-seater series' close link to the Roborace concept.
The plan is for the Roborace category to support FE events in the future, though it is unknown when a prototype of the final design will run on track for the first time or appear at an FE event.
DevBot has previously run only in private, including one appearance behind closed doors at Silverstone.
VIDEO - ROBORACE'S DEVBOT
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