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Stanford and Volkswagen Create Autonomous Vehicle
nght2000 writes "Stanford University has created an autonomous driving robot to compete in the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge Race. The race will be held on October 8, 2005 in the desert Southwest. The team that develops an autonomous ground vehicle that finishes the designated route most quickly within 10 hours will receive $2 million. The route will be no more than 175 miles over desert terrain featuring natural and man-made obstacles. The Stanford Racing Team's vehicle is a Volkswagen R5 turbo diesel Touareg that was donated by Volkswagen of America. The Stanford Team has been working with the Volkswagen Electronics Research Laboratory on the project."
Just when you thought it was safe to cross the street...
The team that develops an autonomous ground vehicle that finishes the designated route most quickly within 10 hours will receive $2 million.
Considering no vehicle has made it more than a couple miles in these races before, I find it pretty funny that they include the "finished most quickly" bit. If anyone could finish at all it would be a huge leap forward. Some of the footage last year was pretty amusing. One in particular I remember was a big SUV looking vehicle that was really moving, made it about 2 miles before it got stuck. Seems to me they'd be better served if they laid off the emphasis on speed for the time being and just got to the point where a sharp turn can be safely negotiated.
Evil will always win, because Good is DUMB
Driving a 4WD in a desert, with obstacles and detours, arriving at a destination within a time limit... I dare say not every human driver is up to the task. And they want to achieve this with a computer?
Herbie Rides Again
This sig is intentionally blank
*Remove tinfoil hat*
Authority questions you. Return the favor.
"So what's the purpose of this? It's a waste of money and it will never benifit anyone. Why do people waste so much money on projects like this."
Actually, it DOES help with the goal of making cars that can drive themselves eventually. This could help lots of people who can't drive a car, or who wouldn't want to. Eventually leading to every car thats made being automatic.
That's a good thing, and it's not a waste of time. It's progress under the guise of a contest, to make it fun and competitive. There's nothing wrong with this.
Look at the big picture.
What the hell vehicle do you want?
Golf. Check.
Beatle. Check.
Jetta. Check.
Passat. Check. (after a little bit of a dry spell.)
Touareg. Check (V10 Goodness, new for 2005)
Lupo?
http://www.tdiclub.com
Well, it looks like the Americans are using the Germans again.
No doubt the Germans can provide the engineering skills required - they did for the Apollo project. But what happens when the Germans go home?
Not only do they have a well designed system, they're using a Hummer H1. I know it doesn't matter what vehicle wins, but when you're competing in a DARPA funded contest, using a HUMMER is more impressive than a VW.
`autonomous ground vehicles that will help save American lives on the battlefield.'
Wouldn't it be easier to just stop invading other countries?