The Great Race
 

"Early on March 13, 2004, near Barstow, California, some of the most sophisticated autonomous land vehicles ever assembled will embark for Las Vegas. They have 10 hours to cover approximately 210 miles of desert terrain and overcome the many obstacles this rugged landscape presents. There will be no drivers, no mechanics, no human navigators. The only communication allowed will be the starting gun! This is the first race of its kind. The winning team will receive a prize of $1 million. "
This race is sponsored the DRPA with the intent of developing automous fighting vehicles. Won't it be great to be able to subdue a city without risking American lives. We could remotely capture Baghdad, Bogata ......... ....... or Cleveland.:worried:

Thanks for the map. I'm going to go lay some land mines.

Re: The Great Race
 

Southeastern Louisiana University, which I'm attending, is working on a 'bot for the 2005 run.

There's a great article in Fortune Small Business about some of the teams assembled to build these machines. While a majority are university-funded squads, there are a few private teams with investors in tow. There's even a team of high schoolers from Calif.

The writer said car companies are banking on these races for future ideas, much more so than the military (DRPA).

This is very impressive.

...and yes, a bit frightening, too.

DARPA Grand Challenge Site

Boeing has joined the Carnegie-Mellon "Red Team".
Being given the route just 2 hours before the race means they will have to be prepared for anything.

Well, they're at it again.
This weekend the second race for autonomous vehicles goes off in Nevada.
Strange, the guy in charge is named Tony Tether.
These are the two vehicles sponsored (in part) by Boeing.

Pete here: (I couldn't get Griff's cookies to clear)

My company (Ensco) has a vehicle in the Grand Challenge final. Last year's vehicle was based on an ATV and flipped over a few hundred yards into the race. This year's is a custom vehicle resembling a dune buggy.
It's pretty exciting.
www.teamensco.com

Go CMU!

After all these years?
That looks like a Monster Garage creation..... Cool! Hope you get a piece of that 2 million. :biggrin:

Hey, they did the best last year. Of course it was only about 10 miles, but still the best.
Boeing's got faith in the Big Red Team....to the tune of a few million. :lol:

Hey Troubleshooter is SLU in it? :question:

Dude , let us all know how it come out !!!

Webcast It's a go!

It is called the Grand Challenge. The disucssion is in the Technology section as Grand Challenge II . It includes a link to the Grand Challenge web site.

Carnigie Mellon was last year's favorite. This year Stamford is doing a very good challenge. Alslo a last minute entry from Princeton was doing well in the qualifyings.