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DARPA Grand Challenge Teams Submit Videos to DARPA
doughnuthole writes "The deadline for DARPA Grand Challenge teams to submit their videos to DARPA just passed and some have posted them online. Some of the teams with these videos posted are Team Caltech, Axion Racing, Virginia Tech (on the Media page), Insight Racing, and UMass Dartmouth. The Grand Challenge is a 175 mile race run by fully autonomous vehicles. Since no teams completed the 2004 race, DARPA decided to run it again, this time for $2 million."
Let's hope the extra money makes the difference this year.
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The problem is figuring out when it needs to leave cruise control and slow down, speed up, avoid collisions, turn, etc. You know, the 99% of the time when you aren't on a straight, flat, open road with no traffic.
I still have more fans than freaks. WTF is wrong with you people?
Flying cars and cruise control situations would, in reality, both be considerably aided by being in an electronic environment with constantly updated information from the road / flight path about the environment and changes in it, such as the fact that a blind corner/cloud is coming up, and there is a vehicle stationary out-of-site around it.
What DARPA wants is a combat-ready system that can drive cross-country with little or no outside help.
Different problems, and they require different solutions, and a system that could pass the DARPA test would be overkill and unsuitable for the daily commute to work.
You're probably looking for Rotundus.
I think the big problem is one of cost and transisition. The most obvious solution is that the road and car talk to each other. However, this would mean that just upgrading the largest highways would be very expensive and take a long time. This would mean that there would be little benefit to those who own cars that are equipped with the ability to drive itself. A guess this is the whole chicken and egg problem.
The other issue is what to do about oder cars not so equipped. In addition to the road and car talking to each other, I also see cars speaking to each other about where they are going and position. Assuming that there is 90% adoption of cars with autonomous gear, what do we do about the older cars? Not allow them on the roads? Maybe they could be retrofitted, but the value of that would probably outweigh the worth of the car.
I'm a member of the Cornell team. I've decided not to post our site, knowing that it would receive a brutal Slashdotting, but here are a couple of the off-site press releases.
m l2 005 /03/02/42255e9b352d0n ews/display.v/ART/2005 /02/24/421d88d386293e ws/25/7487/
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/041216/sfth012_1.ht
http://www.cornellsun.com/vnews/display.v/ART/
http://www.cornellsun.com/v
http://www.automotive.com/n
Feel free to Google us and come visit our site.
Here's the link to CU. (Go Big Red!!)
Here's the link to CMU.
It's simple: if a soldier isn't behind the wheel of a supply truck, then he can be out shooting at insurgents. Another issue is that the long supply lines of the U.S. army are currently one of its weak points- Jessica Lynch was part of a supply convoy, for instance. Taking the soldiers off the trucks probably doesn't make the supplies safer but it could reduce the number of casualties. Further on down the line, the military will probably be fielding robots with wheels and tanks, first for reconnaissance and later with guns and missiles aboard. This technology brings us closer to being able to do that.
Personally, I think the whole thing misses the point. Technology is great and all, but it would save a lot more American lives if you followed the Powell Doctrine: go to war only after all other options are exhausted, and then go in with a clear mission, overwhelming force, and a plan on how to get out. The Bush Administration didn't do any of those things in Iraq which is why the situation is such a royal fuckup.
Don't forget the Ripsaw used by TeamTMT. Their vehicle looks much cooler, and more fun to drive, than the wimpy one from UMass Dartmouth. All they need to do is figure out that AI problem and they're done...
What does the military need a robo-car for anyway?
Supply convoys. Do you remember that story from last year where troops refused to go on a supply mission because it was too dangerous? From DARPA's 2004 FAQ:
Q: How will autonomous ground vehicle technology benefit the military?
A: The military is looking toward a future in which manned and unmanned systems work together on the ground and in the air to provide enhanced capabilities for U.S. forces. For an example of the utility of unmanned ground systems, consider Operation Iraqi Freedom. The combat troops moved quickly toward Baghdad, and were followed by supplies and materiel. Protecting the supply lines was critical. In the future, unmanned systems may be able to conduct resupply missions without using humans as drivers, and without requiring additional troops for protection.