The world’s first race between electric driverless cars has resulted in a high-speed crash in Buenos Aires.
Two Devbot cars were racing each other as part of Roborace, an event put on before the Formula E electric car race which took place in the Argentine capital.
Quick point of view shot of the track. Hold on to your hats. #BAePrix pic.twitter.com/IlyZFyKlYp
— Roborace (@roborace) February 18, 2017
The live demonstration showed the two cars racing around the city centre track using artificial intelligence software and a laser-based guidance system to get round the track and avoid colliding with one another.Devbot 2, the second of the Roborace cars racing on Monday, took a corner at speed and clipped the edge of a barrier.“The car was damaged, for sure, but it can be repaired. And the beauty is no drivers get harmed because… there is no-one in them,” Roborace’s chief marketing officer Justin Cooke told the BBC.Limits on the speed the cars could get up to ensured no spectators were injured in the crash either.
Devbot 2 while pushing the boundaries of AI had a racing incident on track, leaving Devbot 1 to win. No drivers were harmed though?? #BAePrix
— Roborace (@roborace) February 18, 2017
Devbot 1 finished the race without any issues, reaching a top speed of 116mph.Roborace has intimated that it plans to race 10 cars of this type against each other in future, with each running off different AI software.Earlier in the week, one of the Devbot cars avoided hitting a dog that strayed on to the track, showing off its safety features.
Who let the dogs out? We've always wanted obstacles in Roborace ?? #BAePrix pic.twitter.com/jUOyLqnrie
— Roborace (@roborace) February 18, 2017
The cars will be racing next in Mexico City on April 1.
