DARPA Urban Challenge update

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Fourth Quarter 2007 News & events

DARPA has selected and announced 36 semi-finalists for this year's Urban Challenge. The semi-finalists will next compete in the Urban Challenge National Qualification Event (NQE) scheduled for 26-31 October, 2007. The top 20 teams from the NQE will move on to the Urban Challenge final event on 3 November, and compete for cash prizes worth US$2 million for first, $1 million for second and $500 000 for third place.

DARPA has also announced that both the Urban Challenge NQE and final event will take place at the urban military training facility located on the former George Air Force Base in Victorville, California. DARPA selected the location because its network of urban roads best simulate the type of terrain American forces operate in when deployed overseas. "The robotic vehicles will conduct simulated military supply missions at the site. This adds many of the elements these vehicles would face in operational environments," explained DARPA director, Dr Tether.

At the NQE and the final event, the robots must operate entirely autonomously, without human intervention, and obey California traffic laws while performing manoeuvres such as merging into moving traffic, navigating traffic circles, and avoiding moving obstacles. Tether noted, "The vehicles must perform as well as someone with a California driver's licence."

DARPA conducted competitive site visits across the United States to select the semi-finalists. Dr Tether told attendees at DARPATech that he was at a site visit and was surprised how well the team's autonomous vehicle made it through an intersection with other cars, just as if there was a human driver in the vehicle. "The depth and quality of this year's field of competitors is a testimony to how far the technology has advanced since the first Grand Challenge in 2004."

The DARPA Urban Challenge is the third in a series of competitions DARPA has held to foster the development of autonomous robotic ground vehicle technology to save lives on the battlefield. Safe operation in traffic is essential to US military plans to use autonomous ground vehicles to conduct important missions.

Terramax from Team Oshkosh Truck, one of the teams that won through to the semi-finals

A peek at the specifications of the Team Oshkosh TerraMax contender reveals a veritable arsenal of sensors for position sensing and collision avoidance. Individual groups have responsibility for the different sensor subsystems:

* The University of Parma, Italy, is responsible for the vision system.

* Teledyne Scientific is responsible for the autonomous vehicle manager, vehicle guidance, vehicle behaviour, sensor fusion and path planning.

* Auburn University is responsible for GPS integration and vehicle control support.

* IBEO Automobile Sensor, GmbH provides the customised LIDAR (light detection and radar) system for the vehicle sensor suite.

* To ensure that there is power to spare the vehicle is driven by a Caterpillar 317 kW (425 hp) C12 diesel with an ADEM III electronic control module.

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