Formula E Announces Driverless Racing Series

That should be about as interesting as watching somebody else play a video game.

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Correction: That should be about as interesting as watching a video game where both players are the computer.

 

Millions of people seem to find that interesting, hence Pewdiepie.

Since the AI is far from perfected I think it could actually be quite interesting.

 

Cool. Should be interesting. Unless all the teams play it very safe.

I mean, RoboCup is also a lot more interesting than actual soccer cups.

 

Really? No...really?? No sound. No drivers. Next, they will run at night with the lights out. Following that, just simulate the whole thing as a video game. It will save bunches and allow fans and drivers alike to just stay home.

 

The finally got rid of the loose nut behind the wheel. I'm feeling a bit more obsolete every day

 

This should facilitate rapid development of AI algorithms that can also be used in road cars. Great idea. I am glad to see this, but I doubt real race drivers, in exciting but low tech ICE cars, are going away. We still have our vintage trains with steam engines, and the public loves them. Horse racing as well.

GSP

 

Who will spray the champagne on the crowd at the end of the race?

 

Obviously.

 

For what it's worth, most are switching from coal to diesel. The steam train at Disney World is diesel powered, as are all but one of the Mt Washington Cog Railway trains (the are building a 6th now). Instead of burning 1000 lbs of coal on a run, they use 18 gal of B20:

Governor Dedicates the Mount Washington Cog Railway's First Biodiesel Locomotive

 

Well, could be interesting. I still think the main problem with Formula E is the driver getting out to swap cars when they could be doing fast battery swaps in the pits.

Btw, Stanford has been doing the autonomous race car thing for a few years now.




This vid is of a 10 minute TEDx talk for those interested in more info, though it perhaps is only 50% relevent:

 

I was thinking these guys, but, it fits!

 

It cannot be much more boring than F1 now. The only interesting part of the last race was 10th, 11th and 12th.

 

Thinking more long term on the implications of the Formula E announcement of "driverless" racing: historically what has attracted interest to any "race" (on foot, on skis, on a horse, chariot, in a car, in a plane, etc.) is the human element. We primarily celebrate the winning runner, rider, skier, driver, pilot, because we identify with a fellow human who has excelled against other humans.
Now imagine a future, a decade from now, when almost all new cars being sold include full autonomous driving capability, and a young generation that doesn't have a driver's license or own a car, they just use cars like they use planes or their local Hyperloop: as a way to get from A to B. How much interest are they going to have about cars running around a track without drivers? Likely not much. Nor are they likely to have any interest in watching race cars being driven by humans, who will likely be slower than autonomous race cars.
As a member of a generation that grew up in car-crazy Southern California in the 60's and 70's, I have little interest in watching autonomous race cars compete. Auto racing as we know it today may be on the way out in the not too distant future. And I don't see "driverless racing" catching on as a spectator sport. Sure there are engineers who would like to build a race car that can compete with human drivers and beat them but that doesn't mean that driverless car racing can succeed as a commercial business enterprise in the same way that F1 and NASCAR have.
And just to be clear, I am looking forward to being able to buy a Tesla in 5 years that will have full autonomous driving capability and be able to take me almost wherever I want to go more safely then I could if I was driving the car.

 

There are many people who like to watch things that are a total invention.



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I refer the Right Honorable gentleman to the answer I gave some moments ago.

 

Ecarfan - I agree. I am follow the rider/driver more than the car/motorcycle.

But as I get more sarcastic and understand the world less...I see a racing series without drivers being believable. Similar to Battle Bots or Robot Fighting. Totally believable - especially in a place like Monza where the fans blindly cheer for the prancing horse.

 

First thought you made a mistake with a title and it would be about this...

Formula Student Germany: New special award for driverless Formula Student Concepts