The autonomous "DevBot #1" took a giant leap forward in Morocco recently, making its debut on a street track at the Formula E Marrakech ePrix. The battery-powered prototype is being tested for Roborace — a proposed race series where driverless cars will compete on temporary city circuits. "It's the first time we've run the Devbot in driverless mode on a Formula E track in the middle of a city street," Roborace's Justin Cooke told CNN. "It's so exciting for the team who put hours and hours of work in. These guys were up to 1-2 a.m. in the morning developing a technology that no one else in the world is able to do at this speed and in these complicated environments."Read: Electric race car showcases driverless futureUsing a variety of sensors — including GPS, radar and ultrasonics — allied to sophisticated computer programs, the car learns how to navigate a track at speed avoiding all obstacles. "What we are doing is at the forefront of technology right now," says Cooke, who is also CMO of Kinetik — an investment company founded by Russian businessman Denis Sverdlov which is providing financial backing for the project."There are two or three kinds of space races, if you will — some people are going to Mars, we're developing robotic cars and I think it's probably one of the most, if not the most exciting space in the world right now." After the successful 30-minute test in Marrakech — this year's host city for the United Nations climate change conference (COP22) — Cooke say the company will next try racing two cars together on track with the eventual aim of having up to 10 cars competing at every Formula E ePrix weekend. "To be here at COP22 when we are celebrating an electric future, a driverless future — it's the perfect time for Roborace," Cooke enthuses. Visit cnn.com/motorsport for more Formula E news and features"More than anything we want people to be excited about the technology because it's going to change our lives, it's going to transform our cities."
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