RoboRace - An autonomous support series for Formula EOpen Wheel

[NW48]

They'll be on flappy robot arms, you'll be able to use the app to vote and give your preferred "driver" more cap-slapping strength.

Strangely, I would actually like to see that. Can't be any worse than Fan Boost.

All jokes aside, it'll be interesting to see how this goes. It'll take some time for people to warm to it, same went for Formula E when it first started, but I think it will produce some very exciting races.

I just wonder, will the cars have a Maldonado personality? A field full of Maldonado's would definitely make things interesting.

 

[Bo]

I know RC racing exists, but has there been one with full scale cars?

No. The current largest scale sanctioned by EFRA and IFMAR for RC racing is 1/5 - divided into LSOR and LSTC internationally, and then there are national LSF1 categories. I'm sure some cars would pass off as 1/4 though.

Having them full-sized would kind of defeat the purpose of RC racing though, as it is scale motorsport - the venues and budgets are a lot smaller, and it's therefore a more accessible option for members of the public to try.

 

[MatskiMonk]

It is slightly eerie to watch.

Some videos for consideration:

 

[Downhill Dino]

-snip-

I'm only basing this off existing robot sports. They're pretty weird to watch, but they really are entertaining.

I don't know, I think you're making it out to be a lot more than it actually is. You haven't exactly said anything new to me, I know how this all works.

 

[RACECAR]

As much as I'm interested in this, I can sort've understand people's issues. To a degree, a race car driver is like a Rider and the car is his automated Horse. People have developed that same fascination with it for so long that the idea of removing the rider from his horse is a bizarre thing to witness.

It is slightly eerie to watch.

Some videos for consideration:

This right here is proof that this has some potential to work. Granted both are in situations with the cars by themselves but considering there exists intelligence good enough to execute what both those car did with NO human assistance (something that I can't remember being done successfully before), who's to say it wouldn't be possible to have them race each other? I imagine their is likely going to be a FIA mandated common program where everyone's AI reconizes the others on track.

 

[R5]

The car.

 

[catamount39]

View attachment 532262 View attachment 532263

The car.

Hated the idea before...REALLY hate it now.

 

[TenEightyOne]

Hated the idea before...REALLY hate it now.

The more I look at it the more I like it. I'll be interested to see how this goes

 

[R5]

I like it, I mean it's about time someone made a racing car designed by Daniel Simon.

 

[catamount39]

The more I look at it the more I like it. I'll be interested to see how this goes

I'd probably be more okay with it if they chose a different color palate.

 

[R5]

I'd probably be more okay with it if they chose a different color palate.

Well individual teams will be running it so that'll happen.

 

[Downhill Dino]

Looks like a Hotwheels. If there already isn't something just like that in toy form, I'd be surprised.

 

[Suzumiya]

Dude, that looks sweet.

 

[catamount39]

Couldn't do much about the background...but this thing in blue is actually dope. 👍 In a team's proper livery this might be neat. Stuff a seat in with a V8 and I'll take 30. xD

How much these things gonna cost anyway?

 

[twitcher]

Couldn't do much about the background...but this thing in blue is actually dope. 👍 In a team's proper livery this might be neat. Stuff a seat in with a V8 and I'll take 30. xD
View attachment 532266
How much these things gonna cost anyway?

"Hmm, I wonder where you could fit a driver?" was the first thing that popped into my head when I saw that


I think it looks pretty bad ass. It's right up there with LMP1 for space-ship-cool points in my books.

 

[JockeP22]

http://www.motorsport.com/formula-e...ess-concept-car-for-new-racing-series-683108/

The series, which will act as a support category to Formula E, plans to field all-electric, driver-less cars during the 2016/2017 season.

Roborace will include 10 teams running two cars each, with one-hour long races during each Formula E ePrix.

Instead of drivers...

 

[05XR8]

The rich man's Tamiya RC10L.

 

[tankuroded]

Couldn't do much about the background...but this thing in blue is actually dope. 👍 In a team's proper livery this might be neat. Stuff a seat in with a V8 and I'll take 30. xD
View attachment 532266
How much these things gonna cost anyway?

Looks like Alpine Vision GT IMO. Also the idea of the series itself reminds me of Mini 4WD. 💡

 

[chrisjohnson93]

Looks a lot like the Chapparel 2X GT Vision car

 

[TRGTspecialist]

"Hmm, I wonder where you could fit a driver?" was the first thing that popped into my head when I saw that

Ahaha I'm glad I wasn't the only one, I was confused when I couldn't see a cockpit until it dawned on me

 

[Lewis_Hamilton_]

The future is here, Wipeout 2097 will be real. The car looks a lot like a GT Vision Concept.

It will be interesting to watch (for me). Would be very entertaining if they borrowed AI behaviour from the Motorstorm games.

 

[MatskiMonk]

Hmmm... autonomous racing?

http://www.bmwblog.com/2016/07/15/video-bmw-teases-driverless-cars-racing/

 

[jake2013guy]

Found out some things about this series and am rather concerned about the actual beginning of it and the long term stability. A lot can be learnt about social media followers.
https://jaketvyoutube.wordpress.com/2016/07/21/roborace-uncovered-buying-followers-and-likes/

Note: The total is above £10,000.

 

[TenEightyOne]

Found out some things about this series and am rather concerned about the actual beginning of it and the long term stability. A lot can be learnt about social media followers.
https://jaketvyoutube.wordpress.com/2016/07/21/roborace-uncovered-buying-followers-and-likes/

Note: The total is above £10,000.

So what? There can't be many commercial products out there that doesn't social media endorsements? Perhaps they simply have a more aware marketing team than other series?

 

[Com Fox]

I was thinking of N.Mansell from Nigel Mansell's World Championship Racing, A.Menu from TOCA 1 or A.Reid from TOCA 2.

Those boys seldom ever lose.

Sorry but Stellan and Cesar from TOCA 2 will be so OP.

EDIT: Didn't know how outdated this post was....

 

[jake2013guy]

So what? There can't be many commercial products out there that doesn't social media endorsements? Perhaps they simply have a more aware marketing team than other series?

This isn't social media endorsements i'm talking about, i'm talking about literally purchasing packages from websites that offer this service in order to boost social media follower numbers. Using these services, you can increase twitter followers, facebook page likes or even specific post likes.

I'm not saying they don't but Roborace makes it so much more obvious. If you have a look at their Facebook page, out of the 700,000+ people that like the page, you see (At most) 2-300 likes and 10-15 comments. If you had 700k+ people who were interested in the series, you'd expect much more traffic than that. On the F1 pages, you have 2.5 million people that like their Facebook page. 2.7k people have reacted to a post with 78 comments about a Sauber ownership posted 18 hours ago. That's the same as Roborace's 4th of July post getting around the same with 22 comments.

If you have a look at their YouTube channel for a truer value of supporters, there are 2,671 which is far less than the 700k+ people that like their Facebook page and the 413k that follow their Facebook and Twitter pages. That is a much more true value of the people who follow Roborace.

The reason why this is significant is because there's a chance that this would affect the longevity of the series itself mainly because they knowingly mislead investors which is a form of fraud then investors would soon pick up that this isn't as good an investment as originally thought then pull out thus leading to the extinction of the series. I can genuinely see this happening as investors (Whether companies or otherwise) would pull out and the series wouldn't get off the ground. All we've seen of the series is the car itself and that it's a Formula E support series. No teams or anything of the like which would create interest other than the car.

 

[TheElbows]

I'll leave it for the techheads. The personal interaction, the team and the driver are what intrigue me about motorsports. F1 is already close to autonomous as I feel like getting.

 

[Bo]

I do think this is going to split your typical motorsport audience. There are a lot of people who love the technological side of traditional motorsport, and I'd hazard a guess that they'll make up the vast majority of the viewers.

The personal interaction, the team and the driver are what intrigue me about motorsports

Well you'll still have a team and some kind of human element, it just won't come from within the car - it'll be like watching robotics competitions. I'd hope the coverage places emphasis on the teams behind each entry, because they're what it all comes down to in the end. It would be a terrible shame and a huge disservice to the engineers and programmers if they were largely ignored in favour of creating an artificial entertainment show.

 

[TenEightyOne]

This isn't social media endorsements i'm talking about, i'm talking about literally purchasing packages from websites that offer this service in order to boost social media follower numbers.

As I replied I missed out an important word and bastardised the grammar; I should have said "There can't be many commercial products out there that don't buy social media endorsements?".

I stand by my point... "Modern Business Venture Buys Likes" isn't really news to anyone.

 

[R5]

@jake2013guy it's not really big news, everyone does it from celebrities to companies.

Also a quick note: Facebook tailors what you see in your news feed based on so many factors that likes and comments are not really a good yardstick for popularity, and neither is a YouTube channel with a single 30 second video compared to one which uploads regular content. Twitter? I have no idea how that works so...