Formula E champion Di Grassi named Roborace CEO

FIA Formula E 2016-17 champion Lucas di Grassi has been named CEO of Roborace, the world's first driverless electric race series that will run as a support series at Formula E ePrix events.

"Roborace cannot be traditional motorsport. Motorsport will have to split into the pure sport and a technology-driven series, and we want to be this technology-driven series," di Grassi said in an introductory video.

"My job is to transform this idea, this concept into a full interactive entertainment that will attract manufacturers, suppliers, technology companies to use the series to develop road-relevant technologies. And at the same time the industry is evolving so fast that we must have a flexible, constantly evolving format for the series, and that's what we're going to do from now on."

NEWS:@FIAformulaEChampion@LucasdiGrassijoins Roborace as CEO! Watch our exclusive video with him on the future of Roborace#WelcomeLucaspic.twitter.com/UqML8Jxkge— Roborace (@roborace)September 13, 2017

Roborace CEO Denis Sverdlov will step down into an advisory role.

"We are thrilled that Lucas has agreed to come on board in an official capacity as Roborace continues to grow," Sverdlov said. "He brings a wealth of knowledge from other motorsport competitions he has developed and evolved and we are privileged to benefit from his experience."

The Robocar made its first public outing prior to the FIA Formula E Paris ePrix.

The Robocar weighs 975kg [2,150 lbs] and measures 4.8m long and 2m wide. It has four motors at 300kW each, a 540kW battery, is predominantly made of carbon fiber and will be capable of speeds over 200mph. The car uses a number of technologies to "drive" itself, including five lidars, two radars, 18 ultrasonic sensors, two optical speed sensors, six A.I. cameras, GNSS positioning and is powered by Nvidia's Drive PX2 brain, capable of up to 24 trillion A.I. operations per second to be programmed by teams' software engineers using complex algorithms.

Roborace provides an open A.I. platform with fixed hardware for companies to develop their own driverless software and push the limits in an extreme and safe environment. The series is designed to be a competition of intelligence, so all teams will use the same Robocar. By ensuring the hardware is consistent all efforts will be focused on advancing the software.

The "brain" of the Robocar – the NVIDIA DRIVE PX 2 – uses artificial intelligence to tackle the complexities inherent in autonomous driving. It utilizes deep learning for 360-degree situational awareness around the car, to determine precisely where the car is and to compute a safe, efficient trajectory.

Roborace will continue to use "DevBot" development cars for demonstrations and testing.