The experimental car "Audi TTS Autonomous Pikes Peak" has achieved its original objective was to complete the famous ascent of Pikes Peak (20 km), Colorado, without stopping ... neither driver behind the wheel.
Developed in collaboration with Stanford University, the Research Laboratory of Electronics of the Volkswagen Group and the firm Oracle, the car has deftly captured the mountain and difficult journey which takes place each June one of the most rally events exciting in the world.
Last September, the Audi TTS Autonomous Pikes Peak has reached the summit of 14,110 feet without stopping. The organizers of the International Pikes Peak Ascent, the second oldest race in America, have also certified. In the last section of gravel, which poses the challenge of handling the most demanding, the meteor has even spun at 45 mph (72 kph).
The Autonomous Pikes Peak Audi TTS has completed the journey in five other times during the week of testing, taking short breaks only to confirm the reading data from the course.
Chrono Official: 27 minutes. No rally driver has ever managed to conquer the climb in less than 10 minutes, even with super cars generate in excess of 900 horsepower. The Audi TTS Autonomous Pikes Peak in product 265. According to the marshals, an ace driver would take about 17 minutes to reach the summit with a machine of the same caliber as the TTS.
This successful outcome demonstrates that the technology of autonomous vehicles can be adapted to rangeland conditions and very difficult to say the project engineers.