ROBORACE - The First Global Autonomous Car Racing Championship

The creators of Formula E along with the tech-investment group Kinetic have announced the first global autonomous car racing championship, the ROBORACE, which will start in 2016. The Formula E is a class of auto racing that is using only electric-powered cars. Like the Formula E, the ROBORACE will feature 10 different teams, each with two electric-powered cars but with a twist; they will be completely autonomous. The cars will compete in one-hour races designed to test artificial intelligence. All the cars will be the same, which means it's up to the software that each team will develop for the race, to make a difference.

Formula E Racing Car

"ROBORACE is a celebration of revolutionary technology and innovation that humanity has achieved in that area so far. In terms of technology we're trying to make them better than humans. So it means we expect the cars will have high acceleration and high speeds," said Denis Sverdlov, founder of Kinetic.

The development of all the vehicles taking part in the championship will be handled by Kinetic. Individual teams competing will be tasked with creating their own algorithms and artificial intelligence for the race. They will be working with the APis developed by Kinetic.

ROBORACE Logo

The arrival of autonomous car racing championships such the ROBORACE will certainly help manufacturers, universities and tech companies push the autonomous car technologies to another level. It's a great place for car makers to invest, experiment, develop and showcase new ideas and bring them to the attention of the world.