First completion of the Goodwood Hillclimb by an autonomous car

The first autonomous car to complete the 1.86-km (1.16 mi) Goodwood Hillclimb was Robocar, a driverless racing vehicle developed by Roborace (UK), which completed the course in around 1 min 15 sec on 13 July 2018.

The car was limited to 120 km/h (75 mph) for the run, owing to concerns about spectator safety, but still managed a respectable time. The fastest run at the 2018 event was 00:43.86, set by two-time Le Mans winner Romain Dumas driving the Volkswagen IDR prototype.

The Goodwood Hillclimb represents a daunting challenge for an AI-driven car. The course is a winding, cambered road that runs through an English country park. The roadway isn't clearly marked with lines or barriers; in some sections there are broad grass run-off areas on either side, while in others stone walls or stacks of hay bales leave only a metre or so of clearance through turns. A dense canopy of trees means that light levels vary significantly from one part of the track to another and also make GPS-based navigation patchy and unpredictable. Another autonomous car, developed by Siemens, attempted the course a few days later, but struggled to accelerate beyond a walking pace and drifted off the track several times.

The car navigated the course using data collected by Roborace's test vehicle DevBot, orienting itself on the track using LIDAR sensors and cameras.