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http://technology.newscientist.com/...e-suv-wins-robotic-street-race.html:thumbsup:
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* DARPA Urban Challenge
* Boss, Carnegie Mellon University
A sports utility vehicle with a mind of its own was declared the winner of DARPA's urban robot car race on Sunday. It travelled autonomously through traffic for six hours and 60 miles (100 kilometres) around a ghost town in California, US, to scoop the prize.
Nicknamed Boss, the vehicle developed at Carnegie Mellon University, in Pittsburgh, won a $2 million prize in the third such race sponsored by the US Department of Defense, which wants military supply vehicles to one day drive themselves.
The entrants included several station wagons and a huge green military truck decked out with flashing lights, warning sirens, spinning laser range finders and cameras. Only six of 11 finalists finished the course, at an abandoned military base, on Saturday.
The winners of the DARPA Urban Challenge were decided overnight, based on their ability to steer safely around the course, as well as their speed. Stanford University, which won a 2005 race, came in second and Virginia Tech finished third.
Historic day
"Yesterday (was) a very historic day," said Tony Tether, director of DARPA, after handing out cheques on Sunday as the winning cars, this time with humans at the wheel, took off for a victory spin.
The effort has brought together some of the top talents at US universities and corporations to work on a significant technological challenge. DARPA's competitions have raised the profile of robotics research, but could also have major benefits in the future.
The US military aims to create autonomous supply vehicles – with a goal of making a third of its supply fleet robotic by 2015 – to keep soldiers out of danger. Car manufacturers also envisage intelligent cars eventually helping people to drive and perhaps taking over altogether for better safety and comfort.
The race's objective – for the vehicles to finish without a dent, following California traffic rules precisely, within six hours – was daunting. A minor fender bender, the worst accident on Saturday, drew a collective gasp from hundreds of fans drawn to the abandoned base, situated about 80 miles (130 km) northeast of Los Angeles.
'Soccer mom'
Each robot vehicle appeared to have its own personality. The Carnegie Mellon/General Motors SUV rushed out of the starting gate, while Stanford's Volkswagen, named Junior, was more conservative.
"Boss is kind of like a soccer mom with some place to be – aggressive but safe," said Carnegie team member Bryan Salesky.
The Toyota Prius from the University of Pennsylvania and Lehigh University took corners slowly and then accelerated. Each vehicle hit a top speed of about 30 mph (48 km/h).
"You see the steering wheel move, and there's nobody there – it's mind-boggling," said stunt driver Tammie Baird, who drove the streets along with the cars to test their traffic skills.
Using a combination of satellite navigation, cameras, radar and lasers, computer systems determined where each car was and where it needed to go, then delivered directions to a system controlling everything from steering to acceleration.
Free-flowing traffic
The Department of Defense's research arm, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, known as DARPA, sponsored dirt-road robot races in 2004 and 2005. But the Urban Challenge was much harder, requiring more complicated decisions from each robot.
The organisers did, however, give a little help when needed to keep the robots racing. They regularly halted other vehicles, avoiding traffic jams that could have damaged or confused the autonomous cars.
One team was also allowed to dig its car out when it took an unanticipated left turn off a dirt road and got stuck, while at least one computer system was restarted during the race.
That did not lessen the cheers from the crowd or enthusiasm from organizers on Sunday. "To end up today with you guys going into traffic, with not only other people driving, but other robots driving, is just absolutely fantastic," Tether said.
http://technology.newscientist.com/...e-suv-wins-robotic-street-race.html:thumbsup:
Printable versionEmail to a friendRSS FeedSyndicate
Tools
digg thisAdd My YahooAdd Google Reader reddit submitNewsvineciteulike submit
Related Articles
* Autonomous driving systems aim to drive dirty
* 23 March 2007
* Robot cars will race in real traffic
* 03 October 2006
* Clever car keeps an eye on stray pedestrians
* 12 January 2006
* Search New Scientist
* Contact us
Web Links
* DARPA Urban Challenge
* Boss, Carnegie Mellon University
A sports utility vehicle with a mind of its own was declared the winner of DARPA's urban robot car race on Sunday. It travelled autonomously through traffic for six hours and 60 miles (100 kilometres) around a ghost town in California, US, to scoop the prize.
Nicknamed Boss, the vehicle developed at Carnegie Mellon University, in Pittsburgh, won a $2 million prize in the third such race sponsored by the US Department of Defense, which wants military supply vehicles to one day drive themselves.
The entrants included several station wagons and a huge green military truck decked out with flashing lights, warning sirens, spinning laser range finders and cameras. Only six of 11 finalists finished the course, at an abandoned military base, on Saturday.
The winners of the DARPA Urban Challenge were decided overnight, based on their ability to steer safely around the course, as well as their speed. Stanford University, which won a 2005 race, came in second and Virginia Tech finished third.
Historic day
"Yesterday (was) a very historic day," said Tony Tether, director of DARPA, after handing out cheques on Sunday as the winning cars, this time with humans at the wheel, took off for a victory spin.
The effort has brought together some of the top talents at US universities and corporations to work on a significant technological challenge. DARPA's competitions have raised the profile of robotics research, but could also have major benefits in the future.
The US military aims to create autonomous supply vehicles – with a goal of making a third of its supply fleet robotic by 2015 – to keep soldiers out of danger. Car manufacturers also envisage intelligent cars eventually helping people to drive and perhaps taking over altogether for better safety and comfort.
The race's objective – for the vehicles to finish without a dent, following California traffic rules precisely, within six hours – was daunting. A minor fender bender, the worst accident on Saturday, drew a collective gasp from hundreds of fans drawn to the abandoned base, situated about 80 miles (130 km) northeast of Los Angeles.
'Soccer mom'
Each robot vehicle appeared to have its own personality. The Carnegie Mellon/General Motors SUV rushed out of the starting gate, while Stanford's Volkswagen, named Junior, was more conservative.
"Boss is kind of like a soccer mom with some place to be – aggressive but safe," said Carnegie team member Bryan Salesky.
The Toyota Prius from the University of Pennsylvania and Lehigh University took corners slowly and then accelerated. Each vehicle hit a top speed of about 30 mph (48 km/h).
"You see the steering wheel move, and there's nobody there – it's mind-boggling," said stunt driver Tammie Baird, who drove the streets along with the cars to test their traffic skills.
Using a combination of satellite navigation, cameras, radar and lasers, computer systems determined where each car was and where it needed to go, then delivered directions to a system controlling everything from steering to acceleration.
Free-flowing traffic
The Department of Defense's research arm, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, known as DARPA, sponsored dirt-road robot races in 2004 and 2005. But the Urban Challenge was much harder, requiring more complicated decisions from each robot.
The organisers did, however, give a little help when needed to keep the robots racing. They regularly halted other vehicles, avoiding traffic jams that could have damaged or confused the autonomous cars.
One team was also allowed to dig its car out when it took an unanticipated left turn off a dirt road and got stuck, while at least one computer system was restarted during the race.
That did not lessen the cheers from the crowd or enthusiasm from organizers on Sunday. "To end up today with you guys going into traffic, with not only other people driving, but other robots driving, is just absolutely fantastic," Tether said.
