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Robotic Audi To Brave Pikes Peak Without a Driver
Scifi83 writes "A team of researchers at the Center for Automotive Research at Stanford (CARS) has filled the trunk of an Audi TTS with computers and GPS receivers, transforming it into a vehicle that drives itself. The car will attempt Pikes Peak without a driver at race speeds, something that's never been done."
would like to welcome our robotic driver overlords.
alias possession='chmod 666 satan && ls
The researchers have programmed Shelley to handle like a racecar by using a set of computer calculations called algorithms
Ha! So that's how they did it! Quite simple, really, once you know the trick.
Rome taught me patience and assiduous application to detail. Virtues which temper the boldness of great, general views.
Observe trials from uphill side of road.
Some mornings it's hardly worth chewing through the restraints to get out of bed.
Having raced up Pikes Peak myself, I think this is pretty impressive. The road surface varies from almost-pavement-quality treated packed dirt, to completely loose gravel on rut-filled rock, with (as I recall) an average 10% climb. It'd be a great test ground for offroad stuff at a slow speed with nobody else on the road, but doing it at full speed requires a *lot* more than just the ability to see where the roadway is: giving a robot the ability to keep a fast car from skidding/sliding on loose gravel on an off-camber turn appears to me to be a wholly different type of challenge than previous autonomous driving projects.
Nostalgia's not what it used to be.
I already saw this on Speed Racer.
Spoiler Alert!
Speed wins the race anyway, and helps Inspector Detector catch the nefarious people behind the robot car
More music, fewer hits
I am not certain what will be more astonishing: watching this succeed or watching it fail.
The researchers have programmed Shelley to handle like a racecar by using a set of computer calculations called algorithms
See what happens when you let Liberal Arts majors playing journalist direct the public's understanding of technical things?
Soon: "John's car rolled out of his driveway all by itself and hit a fire hydrant, honey! He should sue General Motors for faulty algorithms!"
But does Mount Washington have an annual, scheduled race period where the road is closed to everyone except racers? The Pikes Peak Hill Climb is one of the oldest auto races in the world and has been held for close to 100 years.
Life, the Universe, and Everything... in my image.
Audi, specifically Audi Quattros, have been rally car favorites for years. Big engine, good tranny, four wheel drive. There are a lot of people that know how to get them running well, and the cars are built well to do the job.
Behold, this dreamer cometh. Come now, and let us slay him... and we shall see what will become of his dreams.
Ari Vatanen racing up pike's peak: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKgeCQGu_ug
Sounds like a PERFECT time to unleash an autonomous racing vehicle.
Especially if the goal is AI research. We have chess-playing computers, we need GTA-playing computers.
retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?
You know, you could just put the brick ON THE PEDAL OF THE CAR.
Given a straight and long enough track, of course.