DARPA's Grand Challenge (unmanned vehicles)

[Hodge]

In case you guys haven't heard of this, it's crazy. In DARPA's Grand Challenge, teams send an unmanned vehicle with NO remote controls, except a "disable" command, on a GPS given course. Last year nobody finished. This year Stanford's team took home the $2 Million prize. Carnegie Mellon's teams finished second AND third.

link

Stanley the VW Touareg, designed by Stanford University, zipped through the 132-mile Mojave Desert course in six hours and 53 minutes Saturday, using only its computer brain and sensors to navigate rough and twisting trails. The Stanford team celebrated by popping champagne and pouring it over the mud-covered Stanley.

 

[rocketman]

That IS crazy. As always, this technology trickles down and pretty soon it'll be an option in your Lexus.

 

[Hodge]

Yeah, the winner said he wouldn't be there if it was just for military applications.

It's unclear how the Pentagon plans to harness the technology used in the race for military applications. But Thrun said he wanted to design automated systems to make next-generation cars safer for everyone, not just the military.
"If it was only for the military, I wouldn't be here today," Thrun said.