Coming Soon, A Track Day for Autonomous Vehicles

Track days are a great way for you to take your personal vehicle and drive them at speeds that would have you arrested if you tried this on public roads.

But what would happen if you brought an autonomous vehicle to a track day? You'll most likely be chased off the property. But there is a track day for folks like you coming soon.

Ars Technica reports that on May 28th and 29th, the first autonomous track day will take place at the Thunderhill Raceway in Willow, California. This is being set up by Joshua Schachter, someone who is interested in how this tech could work on the track.

"The idea is to push the limits of engineering. Track days are the first step into racing, and I thought rather than create a hardware platform for people to use, why not create an event?" explained Schacter.

Is anyone taking up Schacter's offer? Very much so. So far sixteen groups and companies have signed up. Some are bringing fully autonomous vehicles while others are bringing various tech to test out.

Schachter is realistic about the prospects about the event.

"I don't know that anyone will complete an autonomous lap at this first event."

Track days have a habit of exposing a number of problems on vehicles. Considering how autonomous technologies are still in their infancy, a racetrack provides a perfect place to find them.

If you have something dealing with autonomous technologies and want to see how it will fare, you can sign up here.

Pic Credit: Audi