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CMU First To Qualify For DARPA Grand Challenge
Anonymous Coward writes "As of 18:00 March 9th, Carnegie Mellon's Red Team is the only entry to successfully complete DARPA's Grand Challenge Qualification Inspection and Demonstration (QID) before the main event on March 13th. The NY Times has this article detailing this first step towards winning the Grand Challenge."
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One of the other competitors is from my university. Looking at the relative sizes, I hope the hummer in the article doesn't get in TerraMax's way.
I can't be the only one who questions motives when the $1M prize is being sought after by a team with more than $2M already invested. What is the eventual payoff?
Linux: Free if your time is worthless.
The real prizes:
the knowledge gained throughout the project
getting one's name published for taking an active role in the project (which can lead to further opportunities)
the overall experience, i.e. 'Hey, I did that"
The pursuit of intellectual challenge is not about money...
I want to drag this out as long as possible. Bring me my protractor.
they divided your time by the cost of your machine.
its impressive when you build a mega$ robot, but a minimal robot that manages to finish is way cooler
... doesn't this basically lead directly to the US military dropping off Robo-Tanks in foreign countries as they please? We know that a steady diet of wars figure heavily in the plan for the forseeable future. The Robo-Tank cuts down on friendly casualties, thus making conflicts more palatable to the public.
Now I find this as cool as anyone else, from a technological standpoint. And it definitely has civilian applicability. But let's face it, this contest isn't about finding cheaper ways to haul cargo or reach remote locations.
I would sure hate to be a geologist, prospector, or hermit in the desert that day.
Gelogist: [mumbling to himself] Finally! Proof that the formation of this arroyo was caused by--
[Geologist is flattened by an army of driverless cars driving at upwards of 60 mph, one of which detects the collision too late and actually backs up, running over him again, as failing avoidance mechanisms kick in]
Any generalization is a stupid one.
Seeing as DARPA wants to turn this technology into a military robotic transport, I don't know how valuable it's going to be if it has to be pre-programmed with terabytes of data just to move. What about if they invade somewhere they don't have good maps of? Somewhere with a dynamic landscape (desert, rocks etc)?
I'm all for innovation, but exploiting poorly-worded rules just to win for winning's sake is an empty victory at best.
The whole point behind an SUV is that, under current regulations, it's classified as a light truck, and so doesn't have some of the environmental restrictions that come with sedans, etc.
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The Qualification Inspection and Demonstration was rumored to be the state's Driver's License Test.
The vehicles had been fretting about the dreaded parallel parking portion of the test.
All competitors are given the actual route as a series of GPS waypoints a few hours prior to the race. Red Team is going to send those waypoints back to CMU, have the big iron there figure out the best course based on all the map data, and then download that course to the robot prior to the start. In a way this is cool, but it seems like they are using a loophole. A much more interesting problem would be to navigate a course that you know nothing about other than the waypoints.
The other teams are using techniques that require more onboard intelligence and route finding. The most interesting vehicle is from Cal. They have a motorcycle. Even though I went to Stanford I am rooting for the Cal motorcycle to do well since they have the most unique vehicle. Hopefully the team of Stanford alums (already dropped out) can come back next year and beat them.
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Basicly, it took a turn too fast.
a picture.
this page is the running log put out by the group, and includes a description of the accident.
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Weird title, seeing how they showcase the CMU entry, a high-school entry running in an Acura (donated by a parent who works for Honda) and a single-member "team" trying to do a motorcycle entry.
Here's a size comparison from the Oshkosk website... their truck is 9 feet tall, a hummer is 6 feet.
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Yup, those are some pretty cool prizes. But we gotta remember other prizes, like bragging rights. I'm already sending this article all over to my fellow CMU almuni friends, to other non-geek friends, etc. All this, and I have nothing to do with robotics and graduated almost ten years ago. Woohoo! I love bragging rights...
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It's all about CAFE. Dodge's PT Cruiser is listed as a light truck too -- it's got a flat-load floor between the rear wheels. Dodge puts a four cylinder in the PT, which gets 30 MPG. This allows them to make even more fuel-hungry trucks and SUVs because their combined average is offset by the relatively high efficiency PT.
From http://www.darpa.mil/grandchallenge/media_feeds.ht m
On Saturday, March 13, DARPA will provide same-day coverage via satellite of the Grand Challenge start and highlights at the following times:
Live coverage of the start: 6:30 - 8:30 Pacific/9:30 - 11:30 a.m. Eastern
Video news release: 11:00 - 11:30 a.m. Pacific/2:00 - 2:30 p.m. Eastern
Coordinates for both feeds:
Satellite: AMC 9, Ku, Transponder 03
Space is: 36 MHz
Downlink Frequency: 11760.000
Downlink Polarity: Vertical
Hopefully someone will record these feeds and make them available online for all of us without satellite
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That's another thing - they only look the part - if a mountain popped up you'd have more chance getting over it by foot than a humvee. They use Tacoma or Silverado chassis and engines
Whoa. Only half true.
The original Hummer/Humvee (Hummer is the civilian version, HMMWV is the military) is a serious off-road vehicle and far surpasses most SUVs and other off-road vehicles in capabilities. It also costs around $125k (civilian version). It'll keep going long after that Range Rover gets stuck or busts its oil casing.
The H2, aka Hummer2, however, is another story entirely. It is, as you say, merely a Tacoma with a different body shell. The original Tacoma wasn't particularly off-road capable and the reshelled version is even less so. But it's only about $60k.
IMO, neither the original nor the bastardized step-son is particularly well suited for general civilian use. But that's me.
with this is simply how cheap the US military is getting away with this
Getting away with what? Basic R&D?
So you'd rather have them spend a few billion on a single supplier, who may not be able to deliver anything, and then keep all the technology as classified for an unknown period of time? Yeah, that's a great use of taxpayer money.
Instead, they put out a challenge that allows both public and private industry to participate. Any useful technology could be immediately spun off for commercial use, and considerably less taxpayer funds are used (yes, public universities will use some taxpayer money as well, but it pales in comparison to the alternative).
Oh, and they're still not "getting away" with anything. DARPA doesn't automatically get the technology. If they get a winner then they'll have to negotiate licensing terms.
You might be interested in knowing that, according to AW&ST, the army/air force in Iraq has found in many cases that it is more efficient to transport cargo within Iraq via C-5, instead of 12 large trucks.
The reason was because the loading and unloading areas could be secured but not the highways in between.
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I suppose that the Internet (former DARPANet) is some insidious hunter killer commmunications device?
I could have saved them $250,000 in sensors by installing a $100 roll bar!
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I went by the event yesterday as a spectator and got to see Red Team do their run. Of the 23 teams who made it this far, they're the only one that has completed the qualification course so far. People complain that they have a more accurate map and that they're not doing real AI, but based on their performance on this surprise course, they have a real obstacle avoidance system.
In one section there was a minivan parked in the center of the GPS path. Of the eight vehicles I saw run, only three made it past the car. Three hit it, and the rest failed before making it that far.
It seemed that the biggest problems teams had were getting GPS right. Several drifted off course or turned the wrong way, going off course. One got the next GPS coord inside of its turning radius so it kept circling a spot until they turned it off.
Lots of great designs though, and some really impressive engineering.
Man, these teams are using the wrong military vehicles. Humvees? Supply trucks? What the hell is that? Seriously man, strap a GPS system onto an M1 Abrams and open that baby up.
I say screw collision avoidance. Go for collision dominance. Any obstacle capable of stopping a 65 ton tank travelling at 45mph is gonna show up on the mother f**king map.
Here are some photos:
DARPA Grand Challenge Photos
Enjoy!