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DARPA's Autonomous Vehicle Challenge Too Popular?
Tim writes "Mobilerobotics.org has an editorial accompanying a copy of a letter to one of the teams entering the DARPA Grand Challenge 1 million dollar autonomous vehicle race, in which DARPA admits to underestimating the number of teams that can actually partipate in the actual race. They figure they've only got room for 20 teams, and more than 100 have applied. The writer of the editorial argues that if more than 20 teams can qualify safely and technically, DARPA should have to chose the 20 cheapest financed teams. What should DARPA do to sort out these problems?" CNET News has more on the high turn-out, while DARPA ponders its next step.
100 contestants, room for 20 on the course... run 5 heats! Top 4 from each go on to final heat of 20...
Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos
They need to have a pre-contest, something akin to Robot Wars. I mean, it is the Defense Department after all.
I Am My Own Worst Enemy
The bottom line of the whole thing is that people have invested time and money in the research and development behind their vehicles. What DARPA should do is run the course multiple times with the max # of participants, or an even division of participants, but run all of the contestant vehicles through, and time/rate them on their traversal of the course. Then pick the X top competitors and run them all through again to pick a winner. Or something. But you can't honestly expect people, who, on the word of DARPA, undertook to research and build something as difficult and complex as an autonomous vehicle, to just walk away because DARPA didn't consider limiting the number of entries before they announced the contest. Adapt the competition to suit the response..... and you'll be certain you didn't throw the best idea out arbitratily to cut down the field.
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They're supposed to be autonomous vehicles, right? If they can't keep out of each others way, they're not very autonomous, are they?
Can You Say Linux? I Knew That You Could.
Well, I think they should evaulate all the projects, the experience of the team members, cost-effectiveness and feasability of the project...
And then give the contract to Haliburton.
Just admitting that they underestimated the interest in this competition, and change it to make the rules harder? I doubt that the current requirements include everything that they would like an autonomous vehicle to accomplish.
I like the "tournament" ideas discussed so far, as DARPA should really test ALL the submissions. Find the best technology now, and further development WILL bring the cost down in the long run. Simply saying 'Oh, but this one is too expensive' has too much potential to eliminate superior technology.
There's no wrong way, to eat a Rhesus...
If I were a contestant, I'd go above and beyond the call of duty to win the contest. The rules of the competition say that the vehicles need to navigate a 250 mile long course without human steering. I'd say that all the other contestants are going to try to do just that, with various degrees of success.
But, I am gifted with the ability to see the forest for the trees. The people who are running the contest are with the Defense Department. Among other things, that department is responsible for prosecuting wars. And wars are just formal and legal ways to kill lots of people.
So, my strategy, in line with seeing the forest for the trees, would be to read between the lines. The rules talk about navigating a course, but why do they want to do that? TO KILL PEOPLE. The larger goal here is not to just navigate a course, but to win a war by killing lots of people.
My hypothetical entry would be a very large limousine, with a fully stocked bar, lots of hookers, a disco ball, and a bomb in the trunk. Everyone would take a look at my entry, and say "I gotta take a ride in that thing." The limousine would be very large, and could hold hundreds of people. When they are all inside, the autonomous function would take over. The contest does specify "autonomous" so the car would know what to do automatically. It would blow up, killing a lot of people, and hopefully anyone close by too.
With that kind of performance, I am quite sure that DARPA would be very impressed with my entry, and I would win.
If tits were wings it'd be flying around.
I am sure that a few short heat races would weed out 95% of the competitors.
love is just extroverted narcissism
Autonomous vehicles roaming the countryside, tracking down the stray humans who haven't been corraled into the pod camps so our bodies can be used as batteries. Like we haven't seen THAT before.
Hmm. An editorial in an amateur robotics site recommends using the cheapest projects. Who'll have the cheapest projects? Why, the amateurs who don't have to pay for (or, at least, account for) labor, project space, etc., of course!
DARPA is looking for people to push the envelope on autonomous vehicle research. However, this is also a very political project that involves a lot of cross-department cooperation. They don't want to have to talk to the press about how an out-of-control "giant robot" crashed into the home of the last colony of purple spotted pigmy desert lizards and exploded. That means, effectively, that talented amateurs with a go-cart and a spare PC are not welcome. They want people who either have a track record or who seem to really be on top of things. As a result, I fully expect them to reject most of the last-minute entrants, small teams, or teams with known problems (like "it don't work yet").
Forward, retransmit, or republish anything I say here. Just don't misquote me.
Instead there will be loads of wrecks from overworked programmers messing up a few lines of critical code. At that point terrorists will have no need to hijack an airplane, they'll just release virus "InsaneTruck.vbs", or "WackAPedestrian.asx" and every vehicle on the road becomes a remote weapon of terror.
In other news, I expect to open an autonomous vehicle dearlership soon. initial inventory is expected at about 80 vehicles.
what sig?
Reading between the lines of DARPA's letter...
"
Dear Mr. Insignificant
Thank you for participating, but since this dog and pony show was really only designed to allow the top 20 big contractors (like Raytheon, Boeing, Lockheed, Rockwell, Northrop, GE, GM, Ford, et al) get a chance at a lucrative contract, we must now admit that you don't have a chance in hell. As a matter of fact, we are so nervous that one of the other 80 participants may actually produce a better, more innovative vehicle, we are going to disqualify you all before you even get a chance. Sure, in the spirit of looking fair, we will come visit your site and see your vehicle. Don't get your hopes up. Do you really think we are going to give the vehicle you and your unemployed ex-aerospace friends built in a garage the same chance we are going to give the Boeing entry we get to see at a 40,000 sq ft plant with a clean room and a reception area filled with gnosh for us to eat? Hell, Lockheed is even providing champagne and a mariachi band! Thank you for playing, now go home and let the big boys play with their billion dollar contracts.
Sincerely,
DARPA (i.e. The Federal Appropriations Enabler)"
Who needs innovation when you can get free food and a goodie bag?
"Curiosity killed the cat, but for a while I was a suspect."- Steven Wright
On top of that, your car can still fail, the electronic fuel injection could go screwy and you'd lose power, causing an accident. Heck, in event of a problem, the car could broadcast an alert via some redundant system that goes "HEY! I broke, and I'm right here! don't hit me!" If you built all the cars to be interoperable, you could do all sorts of nifty things, scheduling and traffic management to alleive congestion.
All I'm really trying to say, is that I'd trust windows more than some of the drivers on the road, and these would likely be very stable embedded systems, like the kind that run assembly lines, or your car, every day without a hitch.
Douglas P. Price