Picture a inter-varsity racing competition with a difference:
The whole thing would be carried out on scaled-down remote-controlled vehicles (1:8, or even 1:4 to 1:2 if possible) with real hardware. I.e. where possible, scaled-down versions of transmission, engine blocks, etc. would be used. Car-mounted stereo camera units transmit the L/R images back to head mounted displays so the drivers could still have depth perception as their cars barreled round the track. The system would use videogame-style steering and peddle, instead of the twin-stick or handheld controllers.
The idea is to develop a research platform and a competence in micro manufacturing, for feasible technologies that would be scaled up to actual size.
Since the action is scaled down, the effect would be much more dramatic from the drivers point of view, kinda like driving 300kph in a real vehicle, minus the G-feedback, but that can be solved by motion control rigs (limited G's). You wouldn't need special circuits, as normal roads could be used (barring potholes which would look like you're driving off the grand canyon, I guess), bringing the action 'closer to home' so to speak, and thusly also making things much cheaper to operate, while still maintaining the same (albeit smaller) visual spectacle.
No danger where collision is concerned (unless the car runs off into a grandstand - I figure 1/4 scale cars are still plenty heavy). Video feeds can be fed back to a director's panel and prepped for on-site monitors or even broadcast. The whole thing would be done on each of the participating campuses, sort of like a racing series.
Hopefully, this would enable smaller (er.. no pun) educational institutions to develop technologies for real-world applications.-- lcllam2, Jul 10 2004 Would it be terribly difficult to frame-synchronize two transmitted video channels across the air say 50-100 meters to a head-mounted display such that the driver doesn't get sick?-- lcllam2, Jul 21 2004 Midget racing has existed for a long time. They are mini cars with motorcycle engines. Your idea is still different in the way that it is remote controlled so I give you a +-- dlapham, Jul 22 2004 I believe now they call it "little people" racing.-- normzone, Jul 10 2019 Is Limited G still in business? I may need a motion simulator…-- notexactly, Jul 22 2019 Modest proposal: miniaturize the development process itself...have students submit budget and schedule estimates for their vehicles before beginning work, track progress using an earned value management system, and deliver daily progress reports with "cost to completion" and "risk burn-down" as key metrics to the funding agencies. Teams that fail the bidding process or who fail to meet their cost and schedule commitments may remain in the competition by becoming "sub-contractors" to more successful teams, taking on responsibility for the other team's results in exchange for the resources to complete their own cars. Alternatively, teams can win additional funding if they have the most social media follower activity, or if they have the most other teams working for them as subcontractors. To keep it simple, build 1:24 scale radio controlled cars.-- sninctown, Jul 27 2019 Wow. I just got fooled by my own earlier annotation.-- notexactly, Aug 17 2019 random, halfbakery