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AWS DeepRacer
Cloud service · AWS · Updated

AWS DeepRacer

In short

AWS DeepRacer is a fully autonomous 1/18th scale race car designed to help developers get hands-on experience with reinforcement learning through a series of virtual and physical racing competitions.

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8 key features of AWS DeepRacer

AWS DeepRacer is a fully autonomous 1/18th scale race car designed for experimenting with and learning reinforcement learning, featuring integration with AWS services, supports real-world racing competitions, and offers extensive educational and community resources.

01
Fully Autonomous 1/18th Scale Race Car

AWS DeepRacer is a fully autonomous 1/18th scale race car designed to test and experiment with reinforcement learning models. It provides a hands-on way to understand machine learning (ML) through autonomous racing.

02
Reinforcement Learning Platform

It is built on a reinforcement learning (RL) platform that allows developers of all skill levels to get hands-on with ML and RL. Users can train their models in a virtual environment before deploying them to their physical DeepRacer vehicles.

03
AWS Integration

AWS DeepRacer integrates with Amazon SageMaker for reinforcement learning model training, AWS RoboMaker for the racing simulator, Amazon Kinesis Video Streams for virtual simulation footage, Amazon S3 for model storage, and Amazon CloudWatch for log capture.

04
Community Races

Users can host races with DeepRacer on AWS to challenge colleagues or share races publicly with machine learning enthusiasts around the globe.

05
Educational and Community Resources

It comes equipped with a vast array of educational resources, including tutorials, workshops, and community forums, which help users of all levels to learn, share, and collaborate on reinforcement learning and autonomous racing projects.

06
Clone Models for Continued Training

Clone a trained model and tune its hyperparameters to continue training and improve performance.

07
Physical Racing Event Management

DeepRacer on AWS supports physical racing events with multiple tracks, timekeeping, lap validation, and combined leaderboards across tracks.

08
Instance-Wide Usage Limits

Administrators can set instance-wide compute and storage usage limits to help control operating budgets and variable costs.

Where AWS DeepRacer is used

AWS DeepRacer serves as a versatile tool for education in reinforcement learning, corporate team-building, research in autonomous vehicle technologies, and for engaging a global community through competitions to build and share AI skills.

  1. 01
    Educational Tool for Reinforcement Learning

    AWS DeepRacer serves as a hands-on educational tool to teach developers, students, and technology enthusiasts about reinforcement learning (RL), an advanced machine learning (ML) technique. By participating in AWS DeepRacer leagues or experimenting in a controlled environment, users can better understand RL principles, experiment with algorithm tweaks, and see the real-time effects of their adjustments on the DeepRacer's performance.

  2. 02
    Corporate Team Building and Learning

    Companies can use AWS DeepRacer as an innovative team-building activity that also fosters learning in advanced technologies. By organizing internal competitions, employees engage in friendly rivalry while enhancing their skills in machine learning, AI, and teamwork, driving both personal development and potentially innovative business solutions.

  3. 03
    Research and Development in Autonomous Vehicles

    Researchers and technologists can utilize AWS DeepRacer as a platform for experimenting with and refining autonomous driving algorithms. This compact and controlled environment allows for rapid prototyping and testing of algorithms before scaling solutions to larger, more complex autonomous vehicle projects.

  4. 04
    Community Engagement and Skill Building

    AWS DeepRacer competitions, both virtual and physical, provide participants with a platform to engage with a global community of machine learning practitioners. These events encourage skill building in a competitive yet collaborative environment, fostering networking and knowledge sharing among participants from diverse backgrounds.

How AWS DeepRacer is priced

AWS DeepRacer pricing includes a free trial for new users, on-demand pricing for training and evaluation hours beyond the free trial, and possible additional costs for event participation.

Free Trial

AWS provides new AWS DeepRacer users with a limited-time free trial that includes 10 hours of model training and 5 hours of model evaluation per month, for the first 12 months after initial sign-up.

Usage-Based Training, Evaluation, and Storage

DeepRacer on AWS charges based on usage to train or evaluate models and to store models.

Event Participation

Participating in AWS DeepRacer events may incur additional costs depending on the event type and its duration. Some events are free, while others may charge a participation fee or require additional model training and evaluation hours that exceed the free tier limits.

Services AWS DeepRacer works with

AWS RoboMakerAWS RoboMaker

DeepRacer leverages RoboMaker for simulation environments to train and evaluate models.

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AWS LambdaAWS Lambda

Lambda can be used to automate processes, such as model evaluation and deployment triggers.

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AWS IoT GreengrassAWS IoT Greengrass

IoT Greengrass provides a local runtime environment for deploying DeepRacer models to physical vehicles.

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AWS CloudFormationAWS CloudFormation

CloudFormation templates can automate the setup and configuration of resources required for DeepRacer.

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Amazon API GatewayAmazon API Gateway

DeepRacer on AWS exposes its backend operations through Amazon API Gateway REST endpoints. These endpoints route requests for managing models, training jobs, races, and other platform resources to Lambda handlers.

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What is AWS DeepRacer

2 min read

AWS DeepRacer offers an intriguing and engaging way for developers of all skill levels to get hands-on experience with reinforcement learning (RL), which is a type of machine learning. This immersive, 3D racing simulator provides users with a practical means to experiment with and understand RL by using it to autonomously control miniature cars, through models trained in a virtual environment. The entire setup of AWS DeepRacer is ingeniously designed to introduce the complexities and potentials of machine learning in a fun and approachable manner. 

At the heart of AWS DeepRacer is the combination of a fully autonomous 1/18th scale race car and a cloud-based 3D racing simulator. The car itself is equipped with a variety of sensors that allow it to perceive its environment, and it operates based on models created, trained, and tested within the AWS cloud using reinforcement learning algorithms. This design choice abstracts away much of the complexity typically associated with deploying machine learning models, making AWS DeepRacer exceptionally accessible to a broad audience. 

DeepRacer on AWS is available as an open-source product that customers deploy and operate within their own AWS accounts.

Since December 15, 2025, AWS DeepRacer as a service is no longer available in the AWS Console, and AWS DeepRacer devices are no longer available for purchase on amazon.com.

Training and evaluation jobs are constrained by service quotas and remain queued until capacity is available, which matters when sizing deployments for classes, workshops, or other periods of high demand.

The principle underlying reinforcement learning, which is central to AWS DeepRacer, involves teaching the model through rewards. Developers can program the car to navigate its way around a track by specifying which actions (such as accelerating, decelerating, or turning) lead to positive outcomes (such as staying on the track) and which actions lead to negative outcomes (such as crashing or going off track). Over time, through a process of trial and error within the simulated environment, the model learns to navigate courses successfully. AWS DeepRacer also capitalizes on the competitive spirit by hosting a global racing league. This competition allows developers to pit their trained models against those of other participants, fostering a community around machine learning and encouraging participants to refine their models. 

The league functions as an excellent motivation for continuous learning and improvement in the field of reinforcement learning. Furthermore, AWS DeepRacer extends beyond just a learning tool and into research and development. Enterprises and researchers can use the platform's simplified approach to reinforcement learning for broader applications than just racing. This could include navigating real-world environments or optimizing decision-making processes in varied settings, showcasing the versatility and potential of reinforcement learning as facilitated by AWS DeepRacer in understanding and applying machine learning concepts practically. 

In summary, AWS DeepRacer stands as a transformative educational tool that demystifies reinforcement learning through interactive, hands-on experience. It serves as a bridge between theoretical knowledge and practical application, offering a platform for learning, experimentation, and competition in the realm of machine learning.

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