A self-driving car competed with a Formula 1 driver for the first time at a competition in Abu Dhabi
Kyiv • UNN
In Abu Dhabi, a self-driving car competed with former Formula 1 driver Daniil Kvyat. As it turned out, a human driver can easily overtake an autonomous vehicle.
During the Autonomous Racing League in Abu Dhabi, four self-driving cars were put on the track for the first time and competed simultaneously. In addition, during the race, an unmanned car competed with a car driven by former Formula 1 driver Daniil Kvyat. This was reported by UNN with reference to TechCrunch.
Details
The first attempt at a four-car autonomous race did not go well: the race was interrupted after one car turned around and blocked the following cars. The second race was more exciting, with the University of Modena's Unimore team taking the lead when it broke away for a long distance. But the TUM team car overtook and won the race, taking home the lion's share of the $2.25 million prize pool.
In another part of the race, when ex-Formula 1 driver Daniil Kvyat and a drone competed on the track, the human quickly overtook the autonomous car. He overtook it twice to the thunderous applause of a crowd of more than 10,000 spectators. Another 600,000 people watched the event online.
The publication writes that the fastest self-driving car was more than 10 seconds behind Kvyat. However, it made smooth, clean laps at an impressive speed. This is in stark contrast to the first DARPA Grand Challenge in 2004, when every participant either crashed into a barrier or drove off into the desert unplanned.
