Robot Vs. Racer: Pro racer Valentino Rossi raced a robot motorcycle

RAEL’S COMMENT:

That’s just the beginning. Sooner or later a computer-driven motorcycle will beat even the best driver in the world. And same for race cars, including formula 1. In fact, driving a race car is a robot job as it means braking, turning, and accelerating always at the very same place for fifty laps or more. Humans cannot do that without some mistakes: computers can. And with proper sensors, they can detect precisely the road condition, the tires or brakes temperature, etc… way before any human can.

Yamaha pitted its AI motorcycle against professional racer Valentino Rossi in a modern-day John Henry competition…and the robot ate his dust.

Yamaha has been working on Motobot since 2015, with the goal of eventually beating humans on the track. No modifications were made to the motorcycle, and the robot operated the bike the same way a human does. It uses precise positioning sensors and can hit speeds of over 124 mph.

Motobot finished 32 seconds behind Rossi. Still, an impressive feat for a robot that can’t stand on its own.