Autonomous vehicle startup Roborace Ltd. has finally unveiled DevBot, the first working prototype of its self-driving race cars, which are powered by Nvidia Corp’s Drive PX 2 artificial intelligence supercomputer. Backed by London-based venture capital firm Kinetik UK Ltd., Roborace wants to use competitive racing as a testing ground for self-driving AIs.

In some ways, it is easier to design an autonomous vehicle to drive on racetracks than it is to design one for city streets. The conditions of the track are easier to control, and there is a lower risk of unpredictable variables such as pedestrians, potholes, and so on. There is also the fact that the autonomous race cars are not only driverless, they are also passenger-less, so while a crash would still be a serious monetary loss, it would not risk human lives.

At the same time, however, race cars also drive up to three times faster than standard cars, which means their reaction times need to be lightning quick to avoid collisions and adjust for track conditions. Roborace has previously stated that its cars would be capable of reaching top speeds of about 180 miles per hour; although the vehicle shown in the company’s brief video demonstration does not seem to be going quite that fast.

According to Nvidia, the Drive PX 2 AI system used in DevBot is capable of performing 24 trillion deep learning operations per second “in a case the size of a lunchbox,” allowing the car to rapidly analyze and act on the large amount of data it receives from its numerous sensors.

“It’s truly a contest to build the most advanced artificial mind”

Roborace plans to eventually hold multiple hour-long races between 10 different teams, each of whom would operate two autonomous race cars. The goal is to pit the teams against each other to determine whose AI will come out on top.

“The teams will have identical cars,” Nvidia explained in a statement earlier this year. “Their sole competitive advantage: software. It’s truly a contest to build the most advanced artificial mind.”

Essentially, Roborace’s cars are functioning as a uniform platform for developers to test out their self-driving AI in a more or less controlled environment. This is an interesting approach to testing out new AI, and it could help weed out weaker intelligences and perhaps show developers what areas they should be focusing on.

Microsoft had a similar goal in mind earlier this year when it open sourced Project Malmo, which uses the popular block-building game Minecraft as a testing ground for artificial intelligence. Microsoft explained at the time that not only is Minecraft an ideal environment to test AI, but Project Malmo also allows developers to compare their progress to other teams in a controlled environment.

Roborace said that it will reveal more details about DevBot and its future plans tomorrow.

You can watch Roborace’s video teaser for DevBot below:

Image via Roborace | YouTube