That's an interesting concept

"El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First!" (lightningzone) 01/10/2015 at 17:13 • Filed to: None

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Do you think it will ever catch on? Or racing will soon become drone racing, because of the limitations, of the human body?

CTSenVy > El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! 01/10/2015 at 17:21

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For it to be a drone, doesn't the driver need to be out of the car? Or am I being to particular in my definition of the word "drone".

El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! > CTSenVy 01/10/2015 at 17:29

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No, this is a proposed solution to drone racing, not a drone. It's a car that brings some of the advantages of getting rid of that slab of meat form the cockpit, but you can still drive it yourself.

Orange_Crusader > El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! 01/10/2015 at 17:58

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The only way to drive it is yourself, there is no remote control capability here. It's just an interestingly designed race car with near zero visibility and a camera/screen to compensate for it. Could that camera feed be transmitted somewhere else? Sure, but it'd need all of the controls to be motorized as well and a complex rc system added in, hence I don't particularly see this as much of a step towards remote controlled full-size cars much more than reversing cameras are leading to self-driving cars. Besides, part of the spectacle and appeal of racing is the human feat of driving so quickly with skill and precision, having the drivers comfortably lounging in an air conditioned space, sipping iced teas in t-shirts and well removed from the action kills much of that spectacle and excitement, IMO.

El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! > Orange_Crusader 01/10/2015 at 18:11

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That's the whole point of the system. To keep the driver in the car and still get the benefits of new ideas that would seem impossible to apply with a human inside.

The driver sits inside the car, but instead of having a window to look out and see where he's going, he can have a display, that will eventually improve visibility, with night vision technology, and real time data, added to it.

El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! > Orange_Crusader 01/10/2015 at 18:12

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This is a drone car, where you replace the driver with a camera.

Orange_Crusader > El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! 01/10/2015 at 18:37

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That would be pretty cool, but it comes with its own stack of possible issues, including reliability of the system and a lack of backup (a good sized bug hitting the lens would mean being blinded entirely, also rain, dirt and every other concern that's not a problem on a large windshield but becomes one when it's effectively a 1/2" lens instead), keeping shakiness and latency down and image clarity up (you have the camera bouncing on the car, and the driver bouncing relative to the screen no matter how well everything is strapped in) and the weight of all of this, all of which can be overcome with enough work, I'm just not sure the demand and thus funding will be there for it in the near future.

El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! > Orange_Crusader 01/10/2015 at 18:56

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You can put the camera(s), in a case, the camera module could be cleaned(or even replaced) when the driver does a pit stop. Or the camera has it's own cleaning system. And shakiness can be eliminated with a really good autofocus system. And if you actually integrate the screen in the hatch panel(see the advancements in curved screen technology), you will only have to worry about how much the driver's body moves inside the cockpit, when G force is applied to it.

StingrayJake > El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! 01/10/2015 at 19:16

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I've come to the conclusion that drone racing will never happen, at least not on a grand scale comparable to human racing. There will always be humans who want to go faster than each other and while I'm not one to romanticize the sport (I'm a sportswriter... I'm a cynic), you can't replace that element of man against man.

I'm sure there will be some form of drone racing in the future, achieving speeds once thought impossible, but that will be the only draw. What is there to cheer for in a robot? There's no personality. Nothing to grasp and relate to. And I know people dig F1 for the engineering, but do people really walk around waxing nostalgic about specific engineers? We all talk about the drivers.

What will happen will probably be more like what you've posted. The vehicles will become so outlandishly safe and the same that it'll be driver vs. driver and the mechanical element will be a limited factor. That being said, IMO, that's not as good as having specific manufacturers to root for. Didn't IndyCar struggle when it became a spec series? People might not know the engineers, but they love their brands.

StingrayJake > StingrayJake 01/10/2015 at 19:18

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Of course maybe it's a natural progression. We now have auto-tracking and RC cameras that can be used to broadcast a race. Are we really so far from everybody, even the drivers, just staying home on race weekend and let the robots do all the work?

dawnell > El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! 01/10/2015 at 19:20

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Why does anybody want either?

I mean, I'm not into watching racing, and I certainly would not race myself. But for those who do, wouldn't looking out the window be a major part of it for them? I mean, it looks like you'd be in a car surrounded by stuff that would make it seem like simulation.

El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! > dawnell 01/10/2015 at 19:31

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Not really a simulation, as you're still in the car.

The advantage is the down force, obtained from a purer design, with the engine sitting lower in the car(for a lower center of gravity) and the bodywork generating the down force, without the need for crazy aerodynamic wings and crests. And because the camera sits higher than the driver could ever sit in such a car, he will get a better visibility, and sit in a more horizontal position, that would allow his body to take more G's.

El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! > dawnell 01/10/2015 at 19:32

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And how can you not watch racing? The 24 Hours of Le Mans, that's one of the greatest shows on Earth.

dawnell > El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! 01/10/2015 at 19:36

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He'll be watching a TV screen for a long time under very uncomfortable conditions. Why would he want to do that? Isn't it sort of fun for him right now?

dawnell > El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! 01/10/2015 at 19:40

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When I was very young my dad was seriously into one of the things (and I'm not going to guess which one, I'll get it wrong). We even went to some races. I think it wasn't too bad when there were three of us, and maybe it was still okay when there were four of us, but I don't think we went when there were five of us. He would still watch it on TV.

I don't get it. Unless someone crashes or something, it's just a bunch of cars going around in a circle (or an oval, or whatever). And it's not like I can sit there and wish for someone to crash or something.

El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! > dawnell 01/10/2015 at 19:58

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There isn't nothing too comfortable about those cars. Even in today's, top LMP1 cars, there is so much heat, and noise and vibration, and all sorts of G forces acting on the driver. I can tell you that a top racing driver, from big name racing series, needs to be as fit as a Olympic athlete. Obviously those guys are not couch potatoes.

Neither is that guy.

This concept won't take all that noise, and heat and vibration and G's away, it will only replace a piece of glass, with a piece of display. The physical requirements would be the same, with a little increase on the G force, because of the more horizontal, driving position.

And to be honest, it would take your average Civic driver, a few good minutes, only to enter in one of the cars, those guys do it, in seconds.

El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! > StingrayJake 01/10/2015 at 20:09

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That car isn't a drone.

Still, it would be fun to watch a series of drone racing, driven by legendary drivers, that are kinda too old, to drive the real race cars of today.

StingrayJake > El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! 01/10/2015 at 20:22

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I gathered that, just decided to go on my own little tangent about drone racing.

Pitchblende > El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! 01/11/2015 at 04:50

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Regarding the concept of lying down and using cameras in a car, that is slightly flawed, you would have to have a very wide angle camera as drivers turn their heads when cornering, there would be all sorts of vibration issues and it would be a system drivers would have to train to use before they felt any confidence in doing so. It's one thing playing a video game, it's a different ballgame when crashing in the game could injure you. A VR system, with two cameras and screens placed in front of each of the driver's eyes? That might work better with some sort of head tracking so that when the driver turns his head the viewpoint changes, but you would still probably lose some all important peripheral vision.

When it comes to drone racing (something I have thought about before) you encounter a whole host of new problems, if your car is remote controlled you are open to natural and (more worryingly) willful interference issues. Control cuts out just for a tenth of a second on a high-speed turn? You're off. Intelligent self-contained drones? Expensive in the software department, whoever could throw the most clever money into that would probably win. I'm sure eventually all the racing would emerge and it would be exciting to watch, but after the race is over, who is going to interview a robot? Donuts and champaign spraying? or just

10 GOTO PARKE FERME

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RadioSilence > El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! 01/11/2015 at 10:48

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This looks like more fun

El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! > dawnell 01/11/2015 at 13:43

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I'm not talking about crappy NASCAR or DP racing, I'm talking about the real thing: World Endurance Championship. Not only it has crashes, but the races take place all over the world, on tracks that have both left and right corners. It employs some of the best drivers in the world, it has four classes of cars(LMP1, LMP2, GTE Pro and GTE Am), all racing on the same track, in the same time. The top class cars from LMP1 are technological masterpieces, that combine powerful ICE units, with various hybrid systems, for maximum speed and efficiency. And the cars, the cars look like spaceships of science, with wheels.

And unlike spec car racing, each team builds its own car, with different technical solutions and packaging, for example, Toyota uses NA V8, with a 6mj hybrid system, Porsche uses a lighter, 4 cylinder turbo engine, with a 6mj hybrid system and Audi uses a V6 turbo-diesel with a 2mj hybrid system, Nissan will join the LMP1 class this year, and the rumors about their cars don't want stop, and they include FR configuration, twin turbo V6 and a 8mj hybrid system.

No there isn't a Batmobile in there, that's Nissan's entry.

And did I mention that the races are reasonably long? All have 6, with Le Mans having 24 hours, and even if it's called endurance, most of the time, it's really a 6 or 24 hour, unpredictable sprint race.

The GT class? That's interesting to watch too, because the GTE cars are closely based on production cars.

And like I said, best part of the WEC is the 24 hours of Le Mans. A race that goes for a full day, a race that isn't requiring just speed and efficiency, but also reliability, because if you want to win there, your car needs to work perfectly for 24 hours, tops. There is no point in leading the race for 12, 16 or 20 hours, if you don't finish first.

MasterChef_117 > El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! 01/11/2015 at 16:13

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THIS actual drone racing seems pretty damn exciting... drone car racing could be if it was sufficiently more 'intense', i suppose...