DARPA Grand Challenge Underway

primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' BoopinDetroit, MI Icrontian
edited October 2005 in Science & Tech
DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) is offering a $2 million US cash prize to any team who can create a fully autonomous vehicle that can complete a grueling desert course. If you didn't follow this last year, it is truly astounding. Basically, contestants must build a robotic vehicle that can navigate a tricky desert obstacle course without knowing the course details in advance. Last year, no vehicles crossed the finish line. This year's race should prove to be riveting.

Source: DARPA

Comments

  • PirateNinjaPirateNinja Icrontian
    edited September 2005
    star wars droids!
  • GrayFoxGrayFox /dev/urandom Member
    edited September 2005
    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*) ;D
  • drasnordrasnor Starship Operator Hawthorne, CA Icrontian
    edited September 2005
    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 :fold:
  • sfleurietsfleuriet Texas New
    edited September 2005
    please do! that would be so cool to see :cool:

    obviously my sister isn't clued in to that.. lol (she goes to A&M too)
  • TheBaronTheBaron Austin, TX
    edited September 2005
    they've been doing this for years, and teams have been failing miserably for years. they're getting closer though...
  • CBCB Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Der Millionendorf- Icrontian
    edited September 2005
    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...
  • QCHQCH Ancient Guru Chicago Area - USA Icrontian
    edited September 2005
    drrrrrrr.............
  • GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
    edited September 2005
    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. :thumbsup:
  • drasnordrasnor Starship Operator Hawthorne, CA Icrontian
    edited October 2005
    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 :fold:
  • sfleurietsfleuriet Texas New
    edited October 2005
    Speaking of, A&M beat my hometown Baylor today 16-13 in OT :)
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited October 2005
    Carnegie Mellon's H1ghlander took the pole position today :)
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited October 2005
    Looks like our friends over at Stanford can do more than just Fold proteins. :D
  • entropyentropy Yah-Der-Hey (Wisconsin)
    edited October 2005
    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...
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited October 2005
    "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. :)
  • drasnordrasnor Starship Operator Hawthorne, CA Icrontian
    edited October 2005
    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 ;D.

    -drasnor :fold:
  • sfleurietsfleuriet Texas New
    edited October 2005
    awesome! post the pix :D:cool:
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited October 2005
    drasnor wrote:
    I've got some pics of me and my associates mounting our stuff in the bed.

    :wtf:

    how big was the bed?

    What were you and your associates mounting in it?

    :wtf:
  • drasnordrasnor Starship Operator Hawthorne, CA Icrontian
    edited October 2005
    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 :fold:
  • drasnordrasnor Starship Operator Hawthorne, CA Icrontian
    edited October 2005
    Dial up beware.
  • drasnordrasnor Starship Operator Hawthorne, CA Icrontian
    edited October 2005
    Here's the inside.
  • drasnordrasnor Starship Operator Hawthorne, CA Icrontian
    edited October 2005
    Engine compartment and tires.
  • sfleurietsfleuriet Texas New
    edited October 2005
    AWESOME!!!! thanks much! :cool::cool::thumbsup::thumbsup:
  • CBCB Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Der Millionendorf- Icrontian
    edited October 2005
    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...
  • drasnordrasnor Starship Operator Hawthorne, CA Icrontian
    edited October 2005
    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 :fold:
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