Audi will run an autonomous Audi RS 7 around the Hockenheim race circuit at race pace to celebrate the final DTM race of the season, and you’ll be able to watch it.
AUDI TODAY WILL run an autonomous Audi RS 7 around the Hockenheimring (race circuit) at full race speed. You’ll be able to watch it exclusively streamed on the net via Audi TV. Click Here.
“We are pressing forward with one of the most important trends in the automotive world with our technical solutions for piloted driving,” says Professor Dr Ulrich Hackenberg, Board Member for Technical Development at AUDI AG. “The utter fascination of this development will be put on display at the DTM race in Hockenheim. A lap time of just over two minutes and lateral acceleration of up to 1.1g speak for themselves.”
This is not the first time Audi has run a driverless car, or piloted car in Audi speak, at a motorsport event. Back in 2009 it took a piloted Audi TTS to the Bonnevile Salt Flats to set a new speed record (210km/h) for autonomous vehicles, and then the following year went to Pikes Peak and successfully ran the course in 27 minutes, averaging 72km/h.
But, back to the piloted Audi RS 7. Audi says it’s identical to the production vehicle in almost every single way with just the steering, brakes, throttle and transmission being controlled automatically.
“The technology platform uses specially corrected GPS signals for orientation on the track. Accurate down to a centimeter, these differential GPS data are transmitted to the vehicle via WLAN according to the automotive standard and redundantly via high-frequency radio. Parallel to this, 3D camera images are compared in real time against graphical information stored on board. The system searches in each of the countless individual images for several hundred known features, such as building patterns behind the track, which it then uses as additional positioning information,” a statement read.
“To demonstrate its capabilities, the Audi RS 7 piloted driving concept car will drive a clean racing line at the Hockenheimring – with full throttle on the straights, full braking before the corners, precise turn-in and perfectly metered acceleration when exiting the corners. Forces of over 1.3 g occur during braking, and lateral acceleration in the corners can reach 1.1g. Tests on the track in Hockenheim suggested an expected top speed of 240 km/h (149.1 mph) and a lap time of 2 minutes and 10 seconds.”
