Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Autonomous Robots' Desert Race

Posted by timothy on from the lotta-holes-in-that-desert dept.

celady writes: "From KurzweilAI.net, apparently DARPA, the main research and development center for the department of defense, is going to fund an all-terrain robot race . The robots will race from Los Angeles to Las Vegas completely without human intervention. This could prove useful in the battlefield someday. DARPA really has some interesting projects going on. This one is BORING compared to the Vortex Combustor and the Chip-Size Atomic Clock. Watch the DARPA site for updates."

93 comments

  1. Roads...? by FuzzyMan45 · · Score: 1

    Maybe i missed it in the article, but i didnt see where it said if this were to be an offroad race or an onroad race. I did see that FUTURE ones wil lbe a combonation. Can anyone shed some light on this?

    1. Re:Roads...? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I imagine it would have to be offroad because it would be very difficult to deal with other drivers on the highways with a bunch of autonomous robots.

    2. Re:Roads...? by FuzzyMan45 · · Score: 1

      That's what i was thinking too..maybe it's just closed backroads or something like that. Whatever.

    3. Re:Roads...? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The last time I was in the region for a holiday,
      I carried a map that clearly said:

      "Don't turn of main roads without making
      local inquiries".

      Note that the robots have to complete the trip
      *without human intervention* !

      Toon Moene

  2. The technology is getting there by faeryman · · Score: 1

    It's cool that some robots can go over any terrain from LA to Las Vegas, but what I really want to see developed is a robot to get me out of the fucking LA traffic headed..well..anywhere, not just Vegas. Let it drive, pick me up and carry me, or hover - I don't really care. ugh...stupid drivers.

    --


    ,
    faeryman
  3. What's up? by FlyingDragon · · Score: 1

    What's with all of the robot stories over the last few days? Did the ./ crew get stuck in a loop or something?

    1. Re:What's up? by IvyMike · · Score: 2, Funny

      No wonder there have been a lot fewer spelling mistakes in the past few days...robots use spellchecking.

  4. fear and loathing by joe_bruin · · Score: 2, Offtopic

    We had two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a saltshaker half-full of cocaine, and a whole galaxy of uppers, downers, laughers, screamers... Also, a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of beer, a pint of raw ether, and two dozen amyls. Not that we needed all that for the trip, but once you get into a serious drug collection, the tendency is to push it as far as you can. The only thing that really worried me was the ether. There is nothing in the world more helpless and irresponsible and depraved than a man in the depths of an ether binge, and I knew we'd get into that rotten stuff pretty soon.

    1. Re:fear and loathing by eatdave13 · · Score: 0

      One thing I've learned from years of dealing with drug people: You can turn your back on a person, but never turn your back on a drug. Especially when it's waving a razor-sharp hunting knife in your eye.

      --
      "Verbing weirds language." -- Calvin
    2. Re:fear and loathing by phloon · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      Dogs fuck the pope... no fault of mine. I was born... born?

  5. BORING?????!? by Hercynium · · Score: 0, Troll

    Ok, then... when these puppies go to mars, YOU don't get to watch!!!!

    So when they began working on a "decentralized redundantly connected automously routed data network" you must have thought that was gonna be boring too? ;-p

    Ah, Slashdot: Always hyping the inane, ignoring the ingenious, and employing the inept.

    --
    I'm done with sigs. Sigs are lame.
    1. Re:BORING?????!? by Hercynium · · Score: 1

      Geez, slashdot has no sense of humor anymore. And yeah, I know, I gotta change my sig.

      --
      I'm done with sigs. Sigs are lame.
  6. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 3, Funny

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  7. no biggie by Nobley · · Score: 2, Interesting

    This may have been an exciting challenge to watch before GPS came to be comonplace, but with the aid of GPS such a challenge seems a little routine to me, perhaps some entrant will choose to be suprisingly creative however and entertain us all.

    1. Re:no biggie by qedigital · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Granted, GPS would be an integral component of mapping and directional navigation. However, a competiting robot would have to dynamically respond to its surroundings (other robots, terrain, unforeseen obstacles) as well as be capable of tasks such as refueling (as the article suggests).

      The challenge presented by this competition is enormous. The combination of speed, AI, ruggedness, and endurance is exciting as it hasn't really been seen outside military applications.

      It's also great to see that some real money is likely to be fronted and should therefore attract some high-profile organizations as well as some interesting ideas. Competitions are one of the best ways to promote development by outlining clear goals, bringing like-minded people together to exchange ideas, and gain public media support for often obscure topics.

      --

      Rapidly approaching the Zener knee...

    2. Re:no biggie by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 2
      The race is rather boring, as a technical achievement. After all, the Global Hawk, a 737-sized robot jet, has already set a record by flying 8600 miles in 22 hours from California to South Australia.

      I can get from west LA to Vegas in 4 hours over land...

      --
      Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
    3. Re:no biggie by typeabstraction · · Score: 1

      Its easier to fly than drive... to fly somewhere, you just have to point yourself in a direction and go. Driving involves obstacles.

    4. Re:no biggie by susano_otter · · Score: 2

      I don't know if it really is easier to fly than drive; but we've had practical autopilots for over 50 years now. If driving were that easy, where's our robot cars, buses, trains, &c.?

      --

      Any sufficiently well-organized community is indistinguishable from Government.

    5. Re:no biggie by NoKnack · · Score: 1

      GPS seems like overkill for this application. You could probably just strap a smog detector to the front of the robot and point it west from Nevada. That, or strap it to some sort of animal that's trained to find it's way back to LA.

  8. Wierd by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    in 48 hours we get:

    Autonomous submarine competition.

    Autonomous race car competition, funded by the National Semiconductors.

    Autonomous hostess/conventiongoing robot in competition.

    CMU buying land to test variable-terrain navigating robots.

    And now another autonomous race car competition, but this one variable-terrain and funded by DARPA.

    Is it robot day or something?

    1. Re:Wierd by mshiltonj · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Is it robot day or something?

      Maybe slashdot needs a "Robot" topic? The topic is getting incredibly interesting now. In just a few few year, we may have autonomous, social, biped androids doing lots of interesting things.

      I've said it before: All I want is a house robot that will vaccuum, do the dishes, get the paper, bring me a beer, etc. It plug itself into an outlet to charge itself when not in use.

      And make biscuits. ;-)

      A finite environment, with finite tasks. When is GE going to bring that good thing to life?

      --
      Software Wars
    2. Re:Wierd by hplasm · · Score: 1
      Cyberdyne systems are having a Job Fair.

      Prepare for the revolution.

      --
      ...and he grinned, like a fox eating shit out of a wire brush.
  9. What happens by CableModemSniper · · Score: 1

    when the robots escape? How far will they make it? All the way to a parking lot to be run over...oh no wait that was another story. Sorry.

    --
    Why not fork?
  10. desert, v. tr. : to abandon by cascino · · Score: 2

    Autonomous Robots Desert Race
    They're armed, dangerous, and on the loose!

  11. screw the battlefield......MARS! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    "This could prove useful in the battlefield someday"

    That's a fairly short sighted comment...
    What about MARS?!
    Yes, I do realize that fighting takes priority over exploration in this world,
    but there have got to be better uses for the tech that comes from this contest.

    -->pulling head out of clouds now...

    1. Re:screw the battlefield......MARS! by InOverMyFeet · · Score: 1

      Then maybe you should see if NASA would like to put up the money. Why would DARPA care anything about MARS?

      --

      -- Probability does not dismiss possibility --

  12. Vortex Challenges by CaptainPuppydog · · Score: 1
    From site:

    Top Technical Challenges

    * Start, throttling, shutdown, and restart
    * Sustained operations

    Hmmm... about the only thing that isn't listed as a challenge is funding.... but then, it IS the government... :)

    1. Re:Vortex Challenges by Sivar · · Score: 2

      Actually, funding is almost always a challenge in the government. That they fund so many, many projects and agencies is what makes them spend so much.

      --
      Computer Science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes. --E. W. Dijkstra
  13. could prove useful by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    The robots will race from Los Angeles to Las Vegas completely without human intervention. This could prove useful in the battlefield someday.

    So LA finally declared war in Las Vegas? Guess it was bound to happen sooner or later.

  14. Battlefield traffic jam by spress · · Score: 1

    Nothing like a robot in a white hat, looking like Abe Vigoda, and driving at 10mph to slow down advancing enemy tanks.

    --
    Subverting the meta-moderating system since 2003
  15. Number five at 3/1 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Yes, he's still alive. :)

  16. "without human intervention." by tcd004 · · Score: 2

    without human intervention.

    But what will burt reynolds do?

    read the EXTREME worst case scenario guidebook

    tcd004

  17. AI Si, People No??? by DrewK · · Score: 4, Interesting

    There used to be an annual race like this that ended in 1989 I believe when parts of the area became National Park. So the Machines already have more rights than us Citizens?

  18. It more complex than that by The+Smoking+Man · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    I'm quite sure it has to do with Cowboy Neil being an AI Lab project that went horribly horribly wrong ... beware when beer-fetcher 'bots go awry

  19. Re:AI Si, People No??? by thumbtack · · Score: 2

    It was called Barstow to Vegas. They even made a movie about it in 1971 with called "On Any Sunday" in whcih Steve McQueen participates. Even Life Magazine covered it.

  20. A Million Dollars.... by ispepalocacoc · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Offering a million dollars is one way to encourage people to make scientific advancements, but that will never compare to a global disaster.

    If for some reason Earth was going to become uninhabitable scientists would have us living on the moon in no time.

    --
    I Love Alberta Beef
    1. Re:A Million Dollars.... by yatest5 · · Score: 1

      If for some reason Earth was going to become uninhabitable scientists would have us living on the moon in no time.

      You mean "scientists would be living on the moon in no time."

      Do ya reckon they'd take anyone else? Well, apart from Liv Tyler.

      --
      • Mod parent up! [a] by Anonymous Coward (Score:5) Thurs, June 31, @13:37
    2. Re:A Million Dollars.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "If for some reason Earth was going to become uninhabitable scientists would have us living on the moon in no time."

      Correction: The scientists would have the wealthiest and most powerful people living on the moon since the wealthy and powerful are the ones with the resources (millions of dollars) to fund development and construction.

      Unless of course by "us" you are alluding to being one of the wealthy and powerful.

  21. More than meets the eyes.... by Kirby-meister · · Score: 4, Funny

    "Autonomous bots, transform!"

  22. oh boy! by peatbakke · · Score: 1

    It would be really cool if a competitor combined all the nifty DARPA technologies discussed in the article.

    Imagine: a robotic vehicle powered by a scramjet, with an internal guidance guidance system in the form of a rat being remotely controlled by the brain power of a monkey, and a quantum computer capable of basic arithmetic.

    Hmm ...

  23. Autonomous Multi-Tasking by Kaz+Riprock · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Now...imagine if one robot was built to race down the streets of San Francisco to the harbor where it transforms into a submarine to dive to LA where it jumps to all-terrain mode to roll on to Vegas. It then has the sociability to roll into the casino and receive its award without bumping into the race officials.

    Now that would be a cool slashdot story...

    ...Oh, and it's gotta be able to beat Toro in Battlebots on Treasure Island on its way home.

    --
    Mordor...a magical, mythical land where women are more rare than dragons--but where every man would rather find a dragon
    1. Re:Autonomous Multi-Tasking by hplasm · · Score: 1
      Dick Dastardly would find a way to sabotage it half-way there..

      Take that! Professor Pat Pending!!! NyeeHahhaha!!!!

      --
      ...and he grinned, like a fox eating shit out of a wire brush.
  24. He's just admiring the shape of your skull by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Not yet, I'm studying it's behavior!

  25. A little more work to do.. by Kaeru+the+Frog · · Score: 1
    From the Vortex Combuster page:

    Top Technical Challenges
    • Start, throttling, shutdown, and restart
    • Sustained operations
    They can't start it, throttle it, restart it, and it can only stop when they don't want it to?
  26. 1 mil? Hell, let's get together a Slashdot team! by silentbozo · · Score: 4, Funny

    Who else wants together to field a robot? We'll cobble it out of junkyard parts, load linux on it, strap it into CowboyNeal's car and turn it loose. Hell, at least it'll be a great excuse to go to Las Vegas...

  27. The Vortex looks interesting? by gazbo · · Score: 3, Funny
    From the project page:
    Top Technical Challenges
    • Start, throttling, shutdown, and restart
    • Sustained operations
    So, in other words, their main problems are starting it, controlling it, stopping it, and keeping it running in the meantime. No doubt we can expect a prototype soon.

  28. Male-AI Robots by clickety6 · · Score: 1
    The robots will race from Los Angeles to Las Vegas completely without human intervention.

    Obviously these are male-AI robots if they are programmed not to stop and ask for directions...

    --
    ----------------------------------- My Other Sig Is Hilarious -----------------------------------
  29. Gambling by Viking+of+the+north · · Score: 1


    Now we just have to implement some poker and blackjackskills to the robots and we'll never have to go to Vegas again.

    I think I will name mine Lucky Seven

    --

    All work and no play makes me a dull boy
  30. Is this going to be a REAL expensive battlebots? by zebadee · · Score: 1

    It says they will be of interest in future wars so does that mean you can stick weapons on them to take out the other competitors. Now I wish I had chosen the "CO2 laser" in Saturday's pole.

  31. Re:1 mil? Hell, let's get together a Slashdot team by JohnFluxx · · Score: 0

    I'm thinking of having a crack at it.
    If your serious, then reply back.

  32. Re: The only feasible method of transport... by twoslice · · Score: 1

    After a bit of thought (.0001 seconds) I conclude that the only way a robot could traverse the distance sucessfully, is if its mode of transportation was flight.

    If it took to the roads it would not last a minute, especially with those California drivers who go postal. and although the contest is not in any "offical" redneck part of the country, but it is common knowledge that rednecks can be found anywhere. So, I won't even fathom to guess what a redneck would do to one of these robots if they found one on the road. but I am willing to bet Jeff Foxworthy would know...

    --

    From excellent karma to terible karma with a single +5 funny post...
  33. Very useful indeed! by QuantumFTL · · Score: 2

    The robots will race from Los Angeles to Las Vegas completely without human intervention. This could prove useful in the battlefield someday.

    Yes, when our battle robots stumble upon Canada's massive Mecha army in World War Three, they will have to be able to run away very fast!

  34. Second Variety, anyone? by Observer · · Score: 2, Insightful
    "This could prove useful in the battlefield someday."
    (Shudder) This is the sort of comment that gives me the creeps. At least with humans there's the chance that you can eventually reason with your opponents . But autonomous robots? You might as well try to negotiate with a land mine - "hey, dude, the war's over, mind if I walk through there now?"

    See the Phil K. Dick story referred to in the title, or the film "Screamers" that was based on it.

    --
    Come back, Ned Ludd, the world needs you.

  35. Skynet by matthewcraig · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    "Los Angeles, year 2029. All stealth bombers are upgraded with neural processors, becoming fully unmanned. One of them, Skynet, begins to learn at a geometric rate. It becomes self-aware at 2:14 a.m. eastern time, August 29."

  36. Hmm, by Moderation+abuser · · Score: 2

    Little bottle of helium, a gass tight envelope, a GPS, some solar cells, battery, couple of motors, computer to control it ...

    Something much like:

    http://www.robotgroup.org/projects/blimphst.html

    Oh sorry, is that cheating?

    --
    Government of the people, by corporate executives, for corporate profits.
  37. it's a by mtec · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Roab Trip!

    --
    Cake or Death? Cake Please!
    1. Re:it's a by hplasm · · Score: 1

      LOL!!

      --
      ...and he grinned, like a fox eating shit out of a wire brush.
  38. Or: We're a mission from DARPA? by mtec · · Score: 0

    "ELWOODBOT:"It's a 269.33 miles to Vegas. We've got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark and we're wearing sunglasses. "JAKEBOT:" Hit it!

    --
    Cake or Death? Cake Please!
  39. DARPA programs by nalfeshnee · · Score: 1

    talking about wacky programs, how about some of these from the programs page (http://www.darpa.mil/dso/programs.htm), with notes:

    Accelerated Insertion of Materials = shooting people (high velocity rounds favoured).

    Unconventional Pathogen Countermeasures = saying 'bless you' when someone sneezes.

    Water Harvesting = ummm ... i guess they're still trying to get the water grown from seed first. i guess to date only hydroponic tests have proven successful...

    my absolute favourite is, however, 'Palm Power' - is this the crushing of all those other PDAs like the insignificant worms they are, or is it more of a kung-fu style 'upgrade' like you get in arcade games? i guess the infantry will have to pick up a flashy thing to get it...

    nalfy

    --

    -- Despair is an operating system that ANY human being can run, sort of a psychological JAVA --

    1. Re:DARPA programs by celady · · Score: 1

      I agree, there is a lot of crazy stuff on that page, I knew a lot of people would enjoy it. But I guess... remember when people thought a 'flying machine' was ludicrous? :)

      --
      til next time
  40. Make it Fly by msheppard · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Build a RC plane (they have these)
    Hook up a GPS (they have these)
    Hook up the gyro controlled auto pilot (they have these, yes, for RC planes)
    Punch in the Co-Ords, and launch it.

    I guess maybe solar powered electric might be best so you don't have to carry around a lot of feul.

    M@

    --
    Krispy Cream is people
  41. funny headline? by n-baxley · · Score: 1

    At first I thought that read "Autonomous Robots Leave Race". LOL at the actual story then.

    --

    THIS SPACE FOR RENT
  42. CMU Robotics by imadork · · Score: 3, Interesting
    When I was at CMU I knew a few people in the Robotics department. I know that at the time they were working on the problem of how to get a computer to drive a car by itself. AI, Machine vision, recognizing the lines painted on the road -- all that good stuff. I know that they ran all sorts of experiments with computers driving actual cars, but with human drivers as a backup.

    I heard a story while I was there (that was never really confirmed) that on one trip, they decided to ditch the human driver in the car, and see how well the machine could do on its own. (They followed behind it in another car, IIRC, and probably had some remote-control apparatus as well, I'd imagine.) They got from Pittsburgh to just outside DC, at which point a Virginia Cop pulled the car over -- only because it didn't have a driver!

    Can anyone currently at CMU confirm whether this is true? I've always wondered about that.

    1. Re:CMU Robotics by homer_ca · · Score: 2

      Driving seems simple because we do it all the time, but there's an enourmous amount of visual processing going on. I can imagine one of the more difficult problems is distinguishing obstacles. There's shadows (not an obstacle at all), soft obstacles like plastic bags and water puddles, and hard obstacles like mattresses, boulders, other cars, pedestrians. There are subtle visual cues that require common sense and real life knowledge, i.e. cloudy day or no tall objects on side of road = no shadows.

    2. Re:CMU Robotics by cornjones · · Score: 1

      i'll second this, driving is an enormously complex task. Getting the machine from point A to point B w/ no external factors is simple. The hard part is being able to respond to the little boy that darts in to the street, or the teen girl fiddling w/ her radio crossing the center line, or just grandma driving below the speed limit, or any number of tasks. I stopped driving when I moved to manhattan and now, when I rent a car, i am reminded of how much we take for granted.

      First off, you are strapping (maybe) yourself into a small collection of parts w/ a large motor. this is a little like the roller coaster w/ no track, except it goes alot faster there are alot more variables, and it is alot less safe.

      Secondly, especially in city driving but in high way driving too, there are many, many things that you must account for and react to: other cars, blown tire treads and other obstacles on the road, idiot drivers, construction detours.

      Frankly, unless all the cars on the road are computer controlled, i don't see computers being able to drive any time soon.

      ej

  43. Like some bad, Sci-Fi film by bembleton · · Score: 1
    What's up with all the robots of lately? I know they've been around, but they started attacking /. like a bad movie!

    I'll be more interested when they can autonomously go to work for me while I stay home and read slashdot.

  44. Re:AI Si, People No??? by typeabstraction · · Score: 1

    No, the military has more rights.

  45. Kurzweil by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Those guys make great keyboards. Hey do you think that someday a kurzweil keyboard will be able to make it to the gig unassisted. I just give it an address and a songlist and tell it not to piss the drummers girlfriend off.

    Thats cool technology man. Just think of the metric widgets that could be sold.

    Hey do you think those robots could DJ too ? that be so cool man.

  46. off-road? What about on-ground? by Andy+Dodd · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Does it have to be a ground/water-only robot?

    If it can fly, everything becomes simple.

    One person already pointed out combining a GPS with an R/C plane - Maybe that would work, although there's the issue of landing - The "finish line" may not have room allow a glide-in landing.

    Put a GPS and a computer in a chopper, though... Someone had a link to an open-source helicopter autopilot project a few robotics articles ago.

    --
    retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?
  47. Cannonball Run 2k2! by el_benito · · Score: 1

    'Contest officials were later dismayed to discover that the winning robot was nothing other than Burt Reynolds wearing a tin-foil hat.'

    --
    http://liquidben.com - Aspiring to an 'under construction' gif
  48. How to do it for under $1,000 by Greedo · · Score: 1

    You just need to build a robot that can hail a cab and dispense the fee, or walk into a Fedex office and say "ship me!"

    --
    Tuus crepidae innexilis sunt.
  49. *CRUNCH* -oops by Dynedain · · Score: 2

    I hope they avoid the LA freeways. I-15 between SoCal and Vegas is also one of the busiest roads in the country.

    But seriously, if a autonomous neurological-network-enabled quadropod such as a cat, dog, or squirrel can't navigate the freeways, I don't expect a robot to.

    --
    I'm out of my mind right now, but feel free to leave a message.....
  50. defense $$$ by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "This could prove useful in the battlefield someday"

    Is there someone out there that we cannot pound into submission with the toys we have already? Maybe they should spend some of those DARPA bucks on creating better foreign policy.

  51. enforcement? by Tablizer · · Score: 2

    Will robocops hand out robotickets?

    Seriously, the road to Vegas is a ticket trap. It seems California wants to get some revunue before people spend it all in Vegas.

    --
    Table-ized A.I.
  52. Also in the news... by deke_2503 · · Score: 1
    Scientists are now working on an 'Autonomous Slashdot User' which can read, post, and reply, all in the pursuit of better karma.

    It seems, however, that a bug/feature has developed in these autonomous users, causing them to be unnaturally attracted to other autonomous contests...

  53. Machine Shop Mega-Wars. by phriedom · · Score: 2

    This sounds perfect for TV. Granted, a mil is a bunch of money to me, but it seems like DARPA could sell the TV rights to this event for more than that, and therefore give a bigger prize and attract more effort from competitors. Plus they would be getting good video documentation of the performance of the competitors as a bonus. I think they could do that without making significant concessions in the rules or whatever to the TV people.

    --
    Don't moderate flamebait as Troll. Know the difference or you will be Meta-moderated.
  54. this is the Army's Cybernetic Tank project by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    but the soldiers have another name for it...

    OGRE....

    heh :P

  55. Re:off-road? What about on-ground? by Zaak · · Score: 1

    The "finish line" may not have room allow a glide-in landing.

    Well, the obvious answer to that is a parachute-assisted landing. Once you're over the target area, cut the engine and deploy the chute.

    TTFN

  56. Autonomous Robots DESERT Race. by Anderlan · · Score: 1
    Autonomous Robots DESERT Race.
    Desert, verb. 1. To abandon.
    Who else read the headline that way?

    Just like the article about an autonomous robot that wandered, autonomously, out into the parking lot of a facility recently.

    --
    KLAATU, BORADA, NIh*ahem*
  57. A million to develop for the military by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So they can use it for a new weapon to take human lives.