Just as the concept of an all-electric open wheeler championship is gently saturating the public consciousness, the brains trust behind Formula E are already devising a driverless racing series.

The series is to be a collaboration with Charge – an automotive start-up founded by new-technology company Kinetik – that develops revolutionary range-extended electric powertrains for commercial vehicles, as well as transporting medical diagnostics into the living room.

Kinetik’s founder Denis Sverdlov first sprung onto the scene with his company IT-Vision, which specialised in automation systems for enterprises on the basis of Microsoft Navision program solutions, and was the Russian Deputy Minister of Communication and Mass Media until 2013.

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“In terms of technology we’re trying to make them better than humans,” Sverdlov told Wired. “So it means we expect the cars will have high acceleration and high speeds. Even if the first race isn’t going to be as high-speed as the current one can do, it is still going to be a huge achievement.”

The Verhoeven-esque titled ROBORACE will make its debut as a one-hour curtain raiser event to Formula E during the 2016-17 season, and will follow the championship calendar, contested by ten teams each fielding two cars.

While the thought of cheering on a field of cars with no apparent disposition might seem alien at first, one only has to look at Kimi Raikkonen’s formidable polling in Formula One fan forums to recognise the hidden potential behind the concept. In fact, autonomous racing was given a very public boost last year when Audi frightened journalists by letting their driverless Audi RS 7 loose at Hockenheim at racing speeds.

Of course, unleashing one autonomous vehicle on a track is one thing, but 20 cars trying to compete for real estate is quite another. It brings to mind a battery-powered horse racing game I found at a stall as a kid. It was powered by magnets which ran along the underside of the track, with the outcome owing as much to chance as it did the pocket money behind replacing its copious array of alkaline batteries.

Like my antiquated game, ROBORACE will no doubt experience a few teething issues, as highlighted by the 14 accidents that Google’s car has suffered in the last six years. In one instance, the car couldn’t navigate a four-way stop while its sensors waited for human-operated vehicles to stop completely and let it pass. As the human drivers kept inching forward, looking for an advantage, Google’s robot was too busy having a nervous breakdown and in serious need of some TLC – or Ctrl-Alt-Delete.



But is ROBORACE prepared for its own ‘Hissing Sid’ moment? In 1981 a mechanical arm going by the amphibian title challenged Tomorrow’s World presenter Kieran Prendiville to a pool game, only to break down, leaving Prendiville to ad lib through the rest of the segment.

A more pragmatic application of the technology could be better served with an autonomous safety car, or during pit-stops, as highlighted by Formula E’s Team Aguri principal Mark Preston:

“The (WEC) Toyota Hybrid ran completely on electric power while in the pit-lane during this year’s Le Mans 24 hours, which could have been implemented autonomously as soon as the driver crossed the pit-lane entry line. This could spell the end to unsafe releases, as the pit-lane would follow a set of rules.”

Either way, ROBORACE will make for fascinating viewing and may even achieve the same lofty aspirations of RoboCup – an annual international football tournament exclusively for robots.

The official goal of RoboCup is to field a team of autonomous humanoid football players against the winner of the most recent World Cup – by 2050.

No doubt Sepp Blatter will be exploiting the services of quantitative analysts as a contingency against such an eventuality.