
Tell HN: I'm creating an autonomous racing series - joshu
http://selfracingcars.com/
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zachrose
I'd be interested in a scaled-down version of this, like autonomous RC without
the R or the C.

YouTube delivers:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoHfJ6LEKVo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoHfJ6LEKVo)

~~~
Muted
I agree that would be cool! I actually worked on the earlier version of that
as my master's thesis[1]. I think it would be cool to do this in a less
controlled environment where the track isn't necessarily preprogrammed.
(Currently there is a camera with IR filter above track and an IR light.)

[1]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-oikffGxOo&nohtml5=False](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-oikffGxOo&nohtml5=False)

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asimuvPR
Interesting! We are doing the same thing but with R/C cars to keep the costs
down and make it accessible to more people. R/C cars come in una variety of
types and can pretty much run anywhere. Programming and setting up a safe
racing environment is much simpler because yoy can have a reusable temporary
V2I infrastructure setup for a race. The biggest hurdles right now are the
price on some of the sensors required and making a programming environment
that is accessible to non-programmers.

If this sounds like something you'd like to give access try feel free to drop
me access line. This project is in the pre-alpha stage but there is already
research underway with live samples (not simulations).

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exDM69
I like it!

There's a professional AI racing series being planned at the moment. The FIA
Roborace [0] will be travelling along with the Formula E championship races in
a year or two (their initial schedule is very ambitious). But it's quite a
different beast, a 2200 lbs downforce racing car that should be able to do 100
mph+.

But this stuff should be doable by amateurs (with a few bucks in their
pockets) or student teams. All the best for OP's effort, I look forward to
seeing footage from your races!

And if you act quick, you might be able to beat the FIA RoboRace and become
the world's first autonomous full-scale racing series!

[0] [http://roborace.com/](http://roborace.com/)

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kriro
I always thought it would be fun if you'd split the field and have the two
groups race in opposite directions at the same time than reverse after n laps.
Would probably be more interesting as it would create some interesting
autonomous driving problems (oh look a super fast object heads on)

~~~
dugmartin
Another option is figure 8 racing.

~~~
jonah
If you don't know about it, School Bus figure 8 racing is an (amazing) thing!

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUuWWqRBpwc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUuWWqRBpwc)

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dr_toolittle
You should go ahead and create a company for this, look into insurance, get
some basic level of marketing up, etc.

Right now it just looks like a website, with no company (nothing in the footer
with even an LLC or anything, and "Joshua Schachter is trying to start a low-
end autonomous racing series." needs work as an about section), no news
section, no press info section, etc.

The domain name is _great_ , but you'll need much more to really get it going.

For examples:

Founding section:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASCAR](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASCAR)

Race sanctioning section:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indianapolis_500](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indianapolis_500)

History section of:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formula_One](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formula_One)

You could probably pose as an interested historian and get information from
each of these organizations about how they are setup and some hoops you might
have to go through.

~~~
joshu
I'm familiar with all of this. It's not necessary to run just a track day.
Insurance is dealt with already, etc.

There are, however, almost no vehicles actually set up for this, so the first
thing that is needed is a place to test the cars and for people doing this to
talk to each other.

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vilya
Nvidia have been promoting something called Roborace, which is running as
something to do with the Formula E series. Is this anything to do with that?

[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roborace](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roborace)

~~~
joshu
Nope. Formula E and Roborace are big money and big spectacle. This is more
like club racing. If you are building something and have something to test,
bring it.

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jonah
I was present at the first DARPA Grand Challenge. It really had that indy
racing feel to it. Teams up all night long in the paddock hacking away on
their code and hardware. So many different sizes and shapes of vehicles all
designed for the same goal. Well-funded, industry-backed university teams up
against garage hobbyists. It really felt like the future was open to all
comers.

Now, we have drone racing, autonomous vehicles that have driven millions of
miles, sensors are inexpensive and plentiful, machine learning has advanced
massively. I think this could be something cool! (It's possible that the fewer
rules, the more innovation it would produce.)

~~~
joshu
I'm planning to eventually model it off of normal racing - classes will
constrain and allow different sets of rules. Fewer rules in some ways, more in
others. For example, one class might dictate the car itself, or the sensors to
use...

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nxzero
(Not that this effort is intended to do so, but)...

Guessing without wrecks, autonomous racing would likely never become
mainstream.

~~~
joshu
Normal racing involves a fair bit of collision, too.

There are at least a few teams out there with working robots.

The racetrack is a much more controlled environment than the street, and there
is a great deal more safety set up.

~~~
joshu
Edit: I think parent means that the wrecking is what people are watching for?

There's not a lot of spectators in club racing. This isn't for spectators
anyway.

~~~
nxzero
Exactly, race clubs are for racing, not wrecking.

Mainstream racing is designed to entertain the fan(antic)s - and they watch
the races for the wrecks.

~~~
nl
Are you from the US?

Most non-US race series (F1, MotoGP etc) don't have lots of crashes. When they
do occur they tend to be annoying for spectators because they occur somewhere
else on the track and they interrupt the racing.

~~~
elsurudo
Not to mention that despite being "exciting", most people would probably
prefer they didn't happen, as when they do occur, they can be fatal. I'm
talking mostly about F1 here, as that is how I personally feel. I mean, when a
crash occurs, naturally I do want to see it, but it can be an exiting race
without crashes...

~~~
nxzero
Good points, though... Some of the best known, and as a result watched races
are the ones that had wrecks; my opinion.

Personally, I don't watch races, and do either street racing, long distance,
or bad weather driving; which is it say that I don't care for race tracks
personally.

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syoc
This is really cool. Will hacking self driving cars to allow "racing mode" be
a thing in the future? Concept is really innovative and I think it would show
just how good self driving cars are vs manual drivers. Hope the big bois
(google, apple etc) will jump on if this becomes a thing.

~~~
toomuchtodo
Audi did this about 6 years ago up Pike's Peak:

[http://www.wired.com/2010/11/audis-robotic-car-climbs-
pikes-...](http://www.wired.com/2010/11/audis-robotic-car-climbs-pikes-peak/)

~~~
jonah
Audi also has an RS7 set up for self-driving on a track. It can turn quite
good lap times but currently the racing line is just preprogramed and so it
can't handle other vehicles on the track at the same time, but it's still neat
progress.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2k2LpV6H7E](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2k2LpV6H7E)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOYsI1cqUrw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOYsI1cqUrw)

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monk_e_boy
You should combine this with robot wars. Allow the cars to make contact with
each other.

~~~
SmellyGeekBoy
On that note (and I know slightly OT) - I think they're really missing a trick
with the new "Robot Wars" by not going fully autonomous. I wonder if any level
of autonomy is allowed?

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tomjacobs
Count Zippy in! He'll bring the food.
[http://meetzippy.com](http://meetzippy.com)

Also, the SparkFun Autonomous Vehicle Competition is similar:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfJHgSNx_vY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfJHgSNx_vY)
[https://avc.sparkfun.com/2014](https://avc.sparkfun.com/2014)

~~~
joshu
you are welcome to bring it. drop me an email.

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650REDHAIR
I'll ride along in someone's autonomous race taxi. I think we could get Sonoma
on board for some hot laps!

~~~
sokoloff
Most racetracks are available for rent.

~~~
650REDHAIR
Most racetracks have crazy, crazy insurance policies and the thought of having
autonomous cars on the track would send them into a tizzy.

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themodelplumber
Can there be a minimum average speed past the first lap? Something to preserve
the appearance of a race? :)

~~~
joshu
I am planning for the first event to just be for testing. Some of these folks
have never seen a track.

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6stringmerc
Slick, thanks for pointing it out. Will be a great area to follow in the
future. I think the more who participate in various forms, be it full size or
R/C scale, can hopefully advance the knowledge and expertise in the field.

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joshu
Are there any teams, companies, products, etc that I should invite?

~~~
spiderfarmer
George Hotz

~~~
joshu
They are already attending.

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skykooler
Looking forward to this, will be really interested to see how it turns out!

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spotman
This is brilliant. Will be watching closely!

~~~
joshu
Thanks.

I've been thinking about how to do this for quite a while, and it finally
occurred to me I don't have to start with a full-on race.

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minimaxir
An announcement is not a Show HN. Additionally, you should use the title of
the announcement as the submission title.

~~~
mmastrac
I'd argue that it's not exactly in the spirit, but definitely worthy of
discussion.

~~~
minimaxir
Exactly, which is why I am pointing it out so that the post does not get
killed on a technicality.

~~~
dang
How about we simply change 'show' to 'tell'. That should make it ok.

~~~
joshu
Thank you!

