Autosport International: Roborace driverless car joins stage line-up

Always at the forefront of future technology, visitors will have an opportunity to get close to Roborace's autonomous 'Robocar' from Friday January 12 through to Sunday January 14.

Roborace is a platform for the development of autonomous technology in an extreme environment and educates the public about the benefits and safety of these technologies when they make it onto our roads at scale.

Designed by the automotive futurist who designed the vehicles in Hollywood movies such as Tron and Oblivion, the 'Robocar' is designed to show clearly that there is no human driver in the vehicle.

Weighing just over 1000kg, it boasts four 300kW motors - one at each wheel to allow torque vectoring - making the car capable of speeds over 200mph (320kph). Its Nvida Drive PX2 GPU "brain" is capable of up to 24 trillion AI operations per second.

Roborace will complement existing racing that uses human drivers, such as Formula E, and provide an environment to develop AI technology for road vehicles at a faster rate than they can be developed on regular roads.

It gives organisations developing driverless technologies an extreme yet safe environment to test their software and hardware pushing them to the limits of their capabilities.

Autosport International Show Director Kate Woodley said: "We are delighted to have Roborace join us on the Autosport Stage at Autosport International. Roborace's 200mph Robocar has turned heads from the second they launched the project and it will be very exciting for everyone visiting the show to see what is surely the pinnacle of AI driving capability.

"We love racing in all its forms and Roborace is a great example of how to push the limits of this new autonomous technology and make it relevant to the track and to the road."

Formula E champion Lucas di Grassi, who is also CEO of Roborace said: "It's a pleasure to bring Robocar to the Autosport Stage. Roborace is the first and only competition series in the world for autonomous driver technologies and is therefore an important part of the motorsport world.

"Autosport International gives us the opportunity to meet visitors and introduce them to the incredible possibilities of autonomous technology and the very real application it will have to their own road cars in the coming years."

The event is part of Motorsport Network's UK title, Autosport - one of the world's leading print and online motorsport publishers.

Motorsport Network is the world's largest independent automotive and motorsport-related digital platform, connecting millions of people who love motorsport and cars.

The network also creates key industry events including Autosport International and the annual Autosport Awards.

Make sure you head over to www.autosportinternational.com now to get your tickets.

All students attending a motorsport- or engineering-related course will be eligible to attend the dedicated trade-only days of the show.