I first wrote about AWS DeepRacer at this time last year, and described it as an opportunity for you to get some hands-on experience with Reinforcement Learning (RL). Along with the rest of the AWS team, I believe that you should always be improving your existing skills and building new ones. We launched the AWS DeepRacer car and the AWS DeepRacer League so that you could have the opportunity to get experience and new skills in a fun, competitive environment. In less than a year, tens of thousands of developers have participated in hands-on and virtual races located all over the world. Their enthusiasm and energy have been inspiring, as has been the creativity.

Last year at AWS re:invent, the company's massive customer conference, Amazon launched a new miniature race car and a racing league, all designed to teach developers about machine learning in a fun way. Today, ahead of next week's re:Invent conference, the company announced some enhancements including an improved car and expanded racing schedule. "We are adding more chances to compete at AWS events and at your own events, more chances to win with new races, including head-to-head multi-car competitions, and an upgraded DeepRacer car with new sensing capabilities," AWS's Jeff Barr wrote in the company blog announcing the updates. For starters, there is a new car called DeepRacer Evo that builds on the original model that came out last year. This one includes a new stereo camera and a Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) sensor.