The grandstands erupted with shock as engineers clutched their heads in the paddock. One driverless race car, produced by the company PoliMove, slammed into Unimore’s slowing vehicle in an event held by the Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League (A2RL).
\n\nAt the famous racing track in Imola, Italy, Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari, both cars crashed in an area called Rivazza. This is the circuit’s final sequence, made up of corners that are notoriously difficult to navigate. Formula 1 champions have met a similar fate here. But this time, the impact posed no danger to the drivers because there weren’t any.
\n\nLaunched in 2024, A2RL sought to introduce self-driving cars to the motorsport to test the boundaries of their current capabilities. And this year’s race at Imola revealed those edges, demonstrating of the gap between the computational abilities of autonomous vehicles and their capacity to respond when something goes wrong.
\n\nOnly two of the five cars in the final completed the race. The UAE’s Kinetiz finished first, followed by Germany’s Constructor Racing. PoliMove clocked in at third place, although its battered entrant had to be replaced for the podium ceremony. Two-time winner TUM withdrew its car after it developed a…
Original source: https://www.wired.com/