DARPA Grand Challenge Underway

Brian Ambrozy 29 Sep, 2005 at 9:07pm ET Article published in Tech

Comments

1. 
   29 Sep 2005 ~ 9:31pm PirateNinja star wars droids!
2. 
   29 Sep 2005 ~ 9:37pm GrayFox Yes I can't wait to see all the cars (The reason last year why none of them won was becase of a problem with the gps in that area *the cars drove off the road and keep going*)
3. 
   29 Sep 2005 ~ 10:35pm drasnor Our campus has a team competing; they keep their truck in our hangar. It's pretty neat, I bet I could take pics if anyone is interested.
   
   -drasnor
4. 
   29 Sep 2005 ~ 10:37pm sfleuriet please do! that would be so cool to see
   
   obviously my sister isn't clued in to that.. lol (she goes to A&M too)
5. 
   29 Sep 2005 ~ 10:49pm TheBaron they've been doing this for years, and teams have been failing miserably for years. they're getting closer though...
6. 
   30 Sep 2005 ~ 8:01am CB I wouldn't let you take pictures if it was my truck...
   
   Does it have to be made out of Duct Tape? Team Nexlia should put in an entry...
7. 
   30 Sep 2005 ~ 10:30am QCH drrrrrrr.............
8. 
   30 Sep 2005 ~ 12:34pm GHoosdum

   CBDroege wrote:

   I wouldn't let you take pictures if it was my truck...
   
   Does it have to be made out of Duct Tape? Team Nexlia should put in an entry...

   
   Heck yeah! we should just stick a motor on the Nexlia Duct Tape Car.
9. 
   1 Oct 2005 ~ 10:33pm drasnor

   CBDroege wrote:

   I wouldn't let you take pictures if it was my truck...

   There isn't any love lost between us and the darpa team. They take all our tools and don't put them back. They also broke our face mill by ramming an incompatible collet into its chuck (with a hammer). They also refuse to clean up their messes. In short, what they don't know won't hurt them.
   
   Pics to follow, I'm heading back out there Sunday.
   
   -drasnor
10. 
    1 Oct 2005 ~ 10:35pm sfleuriet Speaking of, A&M beat my hometown Baylor today 16-13 in OT
11. 
    6 Oct 2005 ~ 7:06pm primesuspect Carnegie Mellon's H1ghlander took the pole position today
12. 
    9 Oct 2005 ~ 3:44pm profdlp Looks like our friends over at Stanford can do more than just Fold proteins.
13. 
    9 Oct 2005 ~ 6:28pm entropy

    primesuspect wrote:

    Carnegie Mellon's H1ghlander took the pole position today

    
    I was reading the paper at work, and it said Stanley won? They mentioned H1ghlander, but I could've sworn it said Stanley won...
14. 
    9 Oct 2005 ~ 6:51pm profdlp "Pole position" just means they were given top seed based on time trials. It's a nice position to be in at the start of a race, but no guarantee of success.
15. 
    12 Oct 2005 ~ 11:39pm drasnor I guess we aren't competing this year since the truck is still in the hangar. At any rate, the DARPA team loaned their truck to us so we can test an aerial refueling system for UAV's. I've got some pics of me and my associates mounting our stuff in the bed. I got the tutorial today on how to drive it so it looks like I'm going to get to have some fun next week .
    
    -drasnor
16. 
    12 Oct 2005 ~ 11:44pm sfleuriet awesome! post the pix
17. 
    12 Oct 2005 ~ 11:57pm primesuspect

    drasnor wrote:

    I've got some pics of me and my associates mounting our stuff in the bed.

    
    
    
    how big was the bed?
    
    What were you and your associates mounting in it?
    
    
18. 
    13 Oct 2005 ~ 12:10am drasnor You'll have to see the pics when I get them off my camera tomorrow afternoon. We built a roll cage designed to hold two people (the UAV pilot and the ground station operator) and be able to survive a rollover at 70MPH and get run over by an 18 wheeler. The cage is designed to be able to take an impact from a 70lb aircraft traveling at around 200MPH (if we lose control of the plane) and mounts 3/4" thick bulletproof polycarbonate (generic Lexan) on the exposed surfaces. The refueling target mounts on top of a 25' sailboat mast anchored to the top of the roll cage and stayed to the front and sides of the truck.
    
    The truck is a F150 with a normal sized truck bed. The roll cage actually mounts to the bed with the bolts that hold the bed to the frame.
    
    -drasnor
19. 
    13 Oct 2005 ~ 4:43pm drasnor Dial up beware.
20. 
    13 Oct 2005 ~ 4:46pm drasnor Here's the inside.
21. 
    13 Oct 2005 ~ 4:47pm drasnor Engine compartment and tires.
22. 
    13 Oct 2005 ~ 5:09pm sfleuriet AWESOME!!!! thanks much!
23. 
    13 Oct 2005 ~ 6:30pm CB Mounting the battery on the tire like that will never work...
    
    I know it seems like it makes sense, but it's just not smart...
24. 
    13 Oct 2005 ~ 6:39pm drasnor

    CBDroege wrote:

    Mounting the battery on the tire like that will never work...
    
    I know it seems like it makes sense, but it's just not smart...

    It's a charger .
    
    -drasnor