Skip to main content

Fast smart car

Audi has let its sophisticated autonomous RS7 performance car loose on the famous Hockenheim race circuit, with successful results. The vehicle features advanced computing technology that allows it to drive itself and was able to achieve speeds of 240km/h while completing a lap on the Grand Prix race circuit. A combination of GPS location data and onboard camera technology enabled the vehicle to compare with stored track map information and identify its precise location on the track, allowing it to drive at
January 14, 2015 Read time: 1 min
Audi has let its sophisticated autonomous RS7 performance car loose on the famous Hockenheim race circuit, with successful results. The vehicle features advanced computing technology that allows it to drive itself and was able to achieve speeds of 240km/h while completing a lap on the Grand Prix race circuit. A combination of GPS location data and onboard camera technology enabled the vehicle to compare with stored track map information and identify its precise location on the track, allowing it to drive at the appropriate speed and in the correct direction. The car was able to follow the best line through the curves with an accuracy of just centimetres. The company does plan to incorporate some of the self-driving technologies in upcoming models currently in development, which will help boost safety and reduce the risk of crashes.

Related Content

  • SmartDrive testing safer signalised intersections for emergency responders
    May 15, 2012
    While both the police and firefighting are recognised as occupations that carry dangers, nearly 13 per cent of the firefighters and police officers who die in the line of duty are killed in vehicle-related incidents, while fire trucks are involved in ten times as many collisions as other heavy trucks.
  • Tackling road safety in India
    February 7, 2012
    Introducing an Indian business leader committed to combating the 'perfect plague' of deaths on the country's roads
  • VIDEO: Yeti ploughs ahead
    November 15, 2019
    Yeti Snow Technology, a developer of autonomous snow clearance systems for airports, will scale back pilot projects this winter and focus on software development.
  • Defective eyesight, a road safety concern?
    February 16, 2012
    Failing eyesight presents safety problems for Europe's older drivers. A new report highlights substantial variation in the assessment of drivers' vision across Europe, and recommends that Member States make moves to better assess drivers' vision. Checking the vision of drivers plays a valuable role in the EU's target of halving road deaths across the EU by 2020. The aim is to achieve this road safety improvement by legislative means that change driver behaviour, raise the technical standards of vehicles and