Roboracer autonomous car to make history at Goodwood

It is a venerable shrine to the thrills of the internal combustion engine, but Goodwood’s famous Festival of Speed will welcome an autonomous electric car to tackle its hillclimb challenge for the first time next month.

The self-driving Roboracer EV will launch itself up the winding lanes of the spectacular Goodwood estate in West Sussex during this year’s 25th anniversary Festival, one of the highlights of the UK petrol-head calendar.

The futuristic car, which has already made a buzz on the Formula E circuit, will pit its 360-degree sensors, computer processors, four electric motors, GPS, radar, lidar and hi-tech cameras against the hay bales, flint walls, trees and tight turns of Goodwood’s 1.16-mile hill track in a race against the clock.

“We are excited that the Duke of Richmond has invited us to make history at Goodwood as we attempt the first ever fully – and truly – autonomous uphill climb using only artificial intelligence,” said Roborace boss and Formula E champ Lucas di Grassi.

The futuristic Roboracer will wind its way uphill past trees, sheep and fields.

The self-driving electric car will be performing Goodwood's famous hill climb for the first time.

The 1,350 kg car, which was showcased at the Festival’s Future Lab last year, was designed by Hollywood creative Daniel Simon, known for his work on films such as “Oblivion,” “Tron” and “Captain America.”

Roborace developed the first driverless electric racing car last year, the Robocar “devbot”, which can reach speeds of 199mph.

The company plans to use similar cars in an all-electric driverless race series that will be part of the entertainment at Formula E.

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Nicki Shields poses with her rival, the AI race car DevBot at the Hong Kong ePrix earlier in December.

She took part in a unique challenge -- a time trial against an autonomous car around a street circuit.

The "Human vs. machine" challenge pitted an autonomous race car against a human driver on a Formula E street circuit around Hong Kong's harborfront.

The Devbot is a prototype electric car which has been created to develop and showcase the capabilities of autonomous vehicles.

Devbot's creators, Roborace, used the chassis from a LMP3 Ginetta -- a car design that's used by drivers in the FIA World Endurance Championship.

The rear-mounted petrol V8 engine has been replaced with a high-output, high-voltage battery.

The Devbot is fitted with state-of-the-art sensing equipment -- including LIDAR and cameras -- which enable it to navigate its way safely around a track.

Powerful AI software interacts with the sensing equipment enabling the Devbot to learn the geography of a track and the racing line.

Before the challenge in Hong Kong, Shields drove the Devbot at a test track in the UK.

Shields getting strapped in ahead of her three timed laps in Hong Kong.

Shields clocked a fastest lap of 1:26.60 seconds...

The Devbot couldn't match Shields time crossing the finish line in a time of 1:34.00 seconds.

Look out for a rematch between Shields and the DevBot in 2018.

Human vs. machine: Nicki Shields takes on Roborace's Devbot

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The Festival of Speed showcases a selection of the best road and race cars and bikes ever invented, and attracts some of the biggest names in motorsport.

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This year’s Future Lab will focus on space exploration, autonomous transport, robotics and personal flight, according to the Festival website.