DARPA Urban Challenge for autonomously driving robotic cars (2004 through 2007)

Team kids,

Here’s something to think about - Imagine a world where cars can drive themselves and you just have to sit in the back reading a book, listening to music, watching some TV or just chatting with your friends without worrying about how the car is driving you. Well – you can say that I can do all this today if I take a public transport system such as a bus or a train. I agree and I would encourage you to do more of it if possible. However, countries like USA do not have a public transport system like buses or trains and people have to rely on cars to go from home to work or school or shopping etc. It is not very efficient system as everybody drives around in a car which creates more traffic on the roads resulting in congestion, more pollution and occasionally accidents.

US Government’s Department of Defense’s Research Agency – DARPA – created a challenge for universities and companies in 2004 to create a vehicle which can drive itself – like a robot. However, the main challenge was that each vehicle will have to drive itself 150 miles (240 km) on a route without any help from humans. This was the first time ever such a race was created and to keep things safe, the DARPA decided to use a route in remote desert region of Southwest USA (in the Mojave Desert region of the United States, along a 150 miles (240 km) route that follows along the path of Interstate 15 from just before Barstow, California to just past the California-Nevada border in Primm).

In 2004, none of the vehicles could complete the race. The vehicle of Carnegie Mellon University's Red Team traveled the farthest distance, completing 11.78 km (7.36 miles) of the course. The $1 million prize remained unclaimed.

One year later, DARPA held the second such race (on similar remote areas – away from main trafficked roads!). Out of 23 finalists went farther than the 11.78 km and five of them completed the entire course.

Kids - Imagine this – these are the vehicles which can drive themselves! No humans required to control it. Once programmed, they will go wherever they need to go. Very cool. The race was won by Stanford University team and the vehicle was named Stanley (a Volkswagen Touareg Sport Utility Vehicle or SUV).

In 2007, DARPA increased the complexity and moved the setting to an urban setting. Meaning, they wanted the cars to drive themselves in the city type of arrangements with roads, other cars, people (actually dummies!) walking about, traffic signals etc. Here’s a video showing the winning vehicle which was designed and built by Tartan Racing, a collaborative effort by Carnegie Mellon University and General Motors Corporation, with their vehicle "Boss", a Chevy Tahoe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lULl63ERek0&feature=fvwrel (please watch this with your parents!).

So, that was the last of the races which DARPA arranged. Quite a few of the technologies will make it to the vehicles that we will drive in next few years. Already, you can see cars having basic radar systems to warn you if you are backing up and something is obstructing your way. Some advanced cars can also park your vehicle for you!

Here’s a Lexus parking itself.

So, ask your mom or dad to go buy this car and no more dings, scratches or hits to the cars or bumping into things in the garage. One day, you may build something much better than these toys and make this world a better place for everybody!

In one of the future articles, we will discuss the newer electric vehicles and how they work. Stay tuned...


--------------

You can read more about the DARPA challenge here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DARPA_Grand_Challenge

What is the Urban Challenge?

The DARPA Urban Challenge is an autonomous vehicle research and development program with the goal of developing technology that will keep warfighters off the battlefield and out of harm's way. The Urban Challenge features autonomous ground vehicles maneuvering in a mock city environment, executing simulated military supply missions while merging into moving traffic, navigating traffic circles, negotiating busy intersections, and avoiding obstacles.

The program is conducted as a series of qualification steps leading to a competitive final event, scheduled to take place on November 3, 2007, in Victorville, California. DARPA is offering $2M for the fastest qualifying vehicle, and $1M and $500,000 for second and third place.

This program is an outgrowth of two previous DARPA Grand Challenge autonomous vehicle competitions. The first Grand Challenge event was held in March 2004 and featured a 142-mile desert course. Fifteen autonomous ground vehicles attempted the course and no vehicle finished. In the 2005 Grand Challenge, four autonomous vehicles successfully completed a 132-mile desert route under the required 10-hour limit, and DARPA awarded a $2 million prize to "Stanley" from Stanford University.