Roborace has announced its chief design officer as Daniel Simon, a global force in futuristic, automotive design.
Renowned for his work on Hollywood sci-fi phenomena such as Tron: Legacy and Oblivion, Daniel has previously been senior designer at Bugatti and later went on to design everything from drones, motorcycles, spaceships and Le Mans cars throughout his adventurous career.
Announced last November, ROBORACE will form part of the support package of the FIA Formula E Championship, with the first race intended to take place during the 2016-2017 season. ROBORACE is aimed to take place prior to each Formula E race, using the same circuits in major cities across the world. Ten teams, each with two driverless cars, will compete in one-hour races over the full championship season. All the teams will have the same cars however will compete using real-time computing algorithms and AI technologies.
Daniel Simon has been working with racing engineers relentlessly on the Robocar and shares a first look at the concept today.
"We're living in a time where the once separated worlds of the automobile and artificial intelligence collide with unstoppable force," he said. "It's fantastic to be part of this journey; it triggers all my big passions - motor racing, design and advanced technologies. My goal was to create a vehicle that takes full advantage of the unusual opportunities of having no driver without ever compromising on beauty. Racing engineers and aerodynamicists have worked with me from the beginning to strike that balance.
"The Roborace is as much about competition as it is entertainment. Therefore - and quite unusual in today's racing world - beauty was very high on our agenda and we work hard to merge the best performance with stunning styling. It was important to us that we generate substantial downforce without unnecessary parts cluttering the car to maintain a clean and iconic look. This is largely made possible by using the floor as the main aerodynamic device and we are currently developing active body parts that are more organic and seamless than solutions today. I am excited to be part of the daring team of people who are making this happen."
"We are honoured to have Daniel working with us on this project as chief design officer," added Denis Sverdlov, CEO of Roborace. "His passion and experience are undeniable and I believe it's already set to be one of the most iconic vehicles in automotive history. We nicknamed the competition the 'global championship of intelligence' as an open challenge to the world's smartest minds, so its only fitting that the car should be one of the smartest ever to be made, thanks to Daniel it may also be the most beautiful car ever to touch a road surface. It's gaming, motorsport, technology and entertainment all rolled into one. I passionately believe that the future of cars is about software; driverless, electric and connected and Roborace will help to make that a reality."
The first Roborace 'shows' will take place during the 2016/2017 Formula E season with disruptive and innovative new formats showcasing safety and extreme driving capabilities.
And one other spect of driverless cars is that there will be no demands for the overhaul of "obsolete" and "ill-structured" rule-making processes.
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