It is a vehicle kitted out with innovation its designers boldly predict will change our cities and transform the way we live.
The autonomous “DevBot # 1” took a huge leap forward in Morocco recently, making its launching on a street track at the Formula E Marrakech ePrix.
The battery-powered prototype is being evaluated for Roborace– a proposed race series where driverless vehicles will compete on short-term city circuits.
“It’s the very 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 informed CNN.
“It’s so interesting for the group who put hours and hours of work in. These men were up to 1-2 a.m. in the early morning making a technology that no one else in the world has the ability to do at this speed and in these complex environments.”
Utilizing a range of sensors– including GPS, radar and ultrasonics– allied to advanced computer programs, the vehicle learns how to browse a track at speed preventing all challenges.
“Exactly what we are doing is at the forefront of technology right now,” says Cooke, who is likewise CMO of Kinetik– an investment company founded by Russian entrepreneur Denis Sverdlov which is offering sponsorship for the task.
“There are 2 or 3 type of space races, if you will– some individuals are going to Mars, we’re developing robotic cars and I believe it’s most likely among the most, if not the most amazing area on the planet today.”
Following the successful 30-minute test in Marrakech– 2016’s host city for the United Nations climate change conference (COP22)– Cooke say the firm will next try racing two automobiles together on track with the ultimate objective of having up to 10 automobiles contending at every Formula E ePrix weekend.
