Story Highlights
Driverless electric racing car successfully completes track test in Marrakech, Morocco
The planned Roborace series will see autonomous cars compete in Formula E ePrix weekends
CNN
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This is a car equipped with technology that its developers boldly predict will transform our cities and change the way we live.
The autonomous “DevBot #1” recently made a big breakthrough in Morocco, making its debut on a road track at the Formula E Marrakech ePrix.
The battery-powered prototype is being tested for Roborace, a racing series in which driverless cars will compete on temporary street circuits.
“It's the first time we've run the Devbot in driverless mode on a Formula E track in the middle of a city street,” Roborace's Justin Cooke told CNN.
“It's really exciting for the team that has put in hours and hours of work. These guys have been working until one or two in the morning to develop technology that no one else in the world can do at this speed and in these complicated environments.” .”
Read: Electric race car shows driverless future
Using a variety of sensors – including GPS, radar and ultrasound – along with sophisticated computer programs, the car learns to navigate a track at speed while avoiding all obstacles.
“What we're doing is at the forefront of technology right now,” says Cooke, who is also CMO of Kinetik, an investment firm founded by Russian businessman Denis Sverdlov that is providing financial support to the project.
“There are two or three types of space races, if you will: some people are going to Mars, we're developing robotic cars and I think it's probably one of the most, if not the most exciting spaces in the world right now. ”
After the successful 30-minute test in Marrakech – the city that will host this year's United Nations climate change conference (COP22) – Cooke says the company will try to race two cars together on track with the ultimate goal of having up to 10 cars competing each Formula E ePrix weekend.
“Being here at COP22 as we celebrate an electric future, a driverless future – it's the perfect time for Roborace,” Cooke enthuses.
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“More than anything, we want people to be excited about technology because it will change our lives, it will transform our cities.”