Velodyne Lidar provides advanced sensing technology for the ROBORACE series of autonomous racing cars

     Velodyne Lidar announced that ROBORACE, the world's first autonomous racing car maker, has selected Velodyne as the official Lidar sensor supplier for its next generation model. ROBORACE will use Velodyne's solid-state liDAR Velarray H800 in its self-driving electric race car, debuting in the first quarter of 2022 Championship Series.

     The Velodyne and ROBORACE engineering teams have been working together on racing development projects. Velodyne's technical strength, reliable sensor performance and industry-wide confidence made the Velarray H800 the clear choice for ROBORACE's engineering team.

     Chip Pankow, ROBORACE's chief tournament officer: "ROBORACE is always looking for the most advanced technology to build our race cars, and Velodyne has one of the best products on the market, and the Velarray H800 will help our cars navigate safely and avoid collisions in the highly competitive autonomous racing world."

     ROBORACE aims to push technology to the limit in a series of safe and controlled environments to accelerate the development of autonomous driving systems, providing the platform, organization and support that leaves the racing teams responsible for their own code and strategy. The first season of the ROBORACE Championship will feature multi-agent racing and metaverse elements, with each race offering a variety of challenges. There are commercial racing teams and college racing teams.

     Sinclair Vass, Velodyne's chief commercial officer, said: "ROBORACE is a test ground for the next generation of mobility, using autonomous driving technology for performance racing testing. With excellent long-range detection capabilities and a wide field of view, the Velarray H800 is a perfect fit for ROBORACE's autonomous racing car. We look forward to continuing our partnership with ROBORACE to advance motorsport innovation."

     The Velarray H800, a solid-state liDAR sensor designed for vehicle-grade performance, uses Velodyne's groundbreaking proprietary miniature LiDAR array architecture (MLA) to do an excellent job of detecting small objects at close range and in the air, while taking care of small corners on slopes and curves. It is designed for safe navigation and collision avoidance in ADAS and autonomous traffic applications to enable advanced driver assistance features.