Pentagon Awards 2 Million Dollars For Driverless Car

ROBO SPACE

Stanley crosses the finish line in Primm, Nev., winning the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge. Image courtesy: Stanford University.

by Marc Lavine
Los Angeles (AFP) Oct 10, 2005
A driverless Volkswagen has won a two million dollar prize offered by the US Defense Department to the first robotic vehicle to cross the finish line in a historic desert race, officials said Monday.

The Volkswagen Touareg fielded by California's Stanford University on Sunday snatched the purse awarded by the Pentagon to help kickstart development of battlefield robots, Stanford and the Defense Department said.

Experts involved in the milestone said the technology could not only revolutionize military battles by keeping soldiers out of harm's way, but could also ultimately save the lives of ordinary motorists.

The winning car, christened "Stanley," was one of five vehicles to cross the finish line in the 210.5-kilometer (131.6-mile) Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Grand Challenge Course held in the Mojave Desert in US state of Nevada.

"These vehicles havent just achieved world records, theyve made history," said DARPA director Tony Tether after Stanley bagged the big prize by completing the grueling course in six hours, 53 minutes and 58 seconds.

"We have completed our mission here, and look forward to watching these exciting technologies take off," he said of the high-tech systems that the Defense Department plans to adapt for military applications.

Stanley's developers at Stanford's Artificial Intelligence Laboratory were thrilled with their victory and underlined the landmark of completing the second robotic vehicle competition.

"We had a good day," said the laboratory's director Sebastian Thrun. "It has been quite rewarding to partner with Volkswagen on an event that contributes to such significant advancements in vehicle technology."

The standard, diesel-powered, Volkswagen Touareg R5 was modified with full-body skid plates, a reinforced front bumper and a drive-by-wire system using six powerful Pentium M computers. It traveled at an average speed of 30.5 kilometers (19.1 miles) per hour.

In the first robotic car competition held last year, none of the entrants finished the course to claim the one-million-dollar price. In fact, none went farther than 12.8 kilometers (eight miles).

But this year, five out of the 23 driverless vehicles that went head-to-head over the tough desert terrain -- including dusty roads, mountain trails, dry lake beds and tunnels -- finished.

"The first four finishers entered the history books as being the first ground vehicle robots to travel a great distance at relatively high speed within a specified time frame," the defense department said.

Stanley trounced Carnegie Mellon University's "Sandstorm" Humvee, which finished the race 11 seconds later with a time of 7:04:50. Sandstorm averaged 28.7 (18.6 miles) per hour.

Also finishing was Carnegie Mellon's Red Team Toos "H1ghlander," (eds.: correct) another military-designed Humvee, which finished close behind with a time of 7:14:00, averaging 29.1 kilometers (18.2) miles) per hour.

The Gray Teams "KAT-5" finished at 7:30:16, while Oshkosh Trucks 16-ton robot, TerraMax, also finished the course with an average speed of 28 kilometers (17.5 miles) per hour.

The truck however was not eligible for the prize as its finishing time exceeded the 10-hour limit by about two hours.

Stanford artificial intelligence expert Thrun said the breakthrough could not only be a boon to the defense complex, but also to the auto industry as robotic cars could change human transportation forever.

"Cars will eventually drive themselves," he said in an interview with The Stanford Daily.

"Over 43,000 people die in automobile accidents a year. Many lives will be saved with the future of autonomous vehicles. I think that within 50 years -- maybe even 30 -- we will see this new technology in our everyday lives."

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ROBOTIC WARFARE

BAE Systems Displays Armed Robotic Demonstrator At AUSA

Arlington VA (SPX) Oct 05, 2005
BAE Systems is displaying an Armed Robotic Demonstrator at the Association of the U.S. Army's 2005 Annual Meeting and Exposition this week in Washington to illustrate the synergy between current and future forces.

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