Robot vehicles conquer U.S. desert terrain race

By Reed Stevenson

PRIMM, Nev (Reuters) – Three modified driverless vehicles
crossed the finish line and into the history books on Saturday
after traversing 132 miles of desert terrain, guided only by
laser sensors and onboard computers.

No winner was declared yet for the $2 million prize in the
race, sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects
Agency to spur the development of driverless vehicles that one
day could carry water, fuel and other supplies for the U.S.
military in war zones.

Organizers said they were waiting for final race times from
the three driverless vehicles that finished and two others
still on the course, which would be paused overnight and
restarted on Sunday.

A winner, based on travel times, would be declared early
Sunday, said DARPA Director Tony Tether. “We have a winner, we
just don’t know who it is,” Tether told reporters.

Last year, in the inaugural race sponsored by DARPA, called
the Grand Challenge, every machine failed within sight of the
starting line. The Pentagon decided to double the prize and
hold the event again this year.

Twenty-three modified Humvees, SUVs, pickup trucks and dune
buggies were sent into the mountains and valleys in the Nevada
desert to navigate man-made obstacles, tunnels and a dry lake
bed just after sunrise on Saturday.

One broke down at the starting line.

A blue Volkswagen SUV, “Stanley,” built by a Stanford
University team overtook an automated Humvee, “H1ghlander,”
built by Carnegie University students at the 102 mile mark
(164-km) and arrived at the finish line first.

Shortly afterward, that Humvee and another, “Sandstorm,”
also built by the Carnegie Mellon team finished the race.

The rugged, twisting Mojave desert course, about 40 miles

southwest of Las Vegas on the Nevada-California border, was
chosen because of its similarity to terrain where the U.S.
military is currently most active, Iraq and the Mideast.

At one point, the vehicles had to climb through a steep
valley that organizers said was “reminiscent of a mountain pass
in Afghanistan.”

A DRIVERLESS FUTURE?

DARPA designed a much more difficult course this year,
saying at least a third of the contestants would be able to
cross the finish line given the level of technology
demonstrated in qualification events earlier this week.

But many of the vehicles simply stopped running on the
course. One stopped after a tire went flat and another hit a
bridge. Still left on the course was a huge six-wheeled truck
called “TerraMax” and a modified SUV called “GrayBot.”

Using global positioning satellites and inertial
navigation, the vehicles were programmed to follow a
pre-defined course disclosed only hours before the race. Radar,
lasers and cameras mounted on the vehicles guided onboard
computers that steered the vehicles around obstacles.

“This is the first step in the evolution of truly automated
vehicles,” said Sebastian Thrun, leader of the Stanford
University team, adding he was confident Stanley had clinched
the prize.

He said Stanley’s technology could be used in the near
future to assist drivers by detecting potential accidents.

“It’s a no-brainer that 50 to 60 years from now, cars will
drive themselves,” Thrun said.

Both Thrun and Tether compared Saturday’s race to the first
controlled flight by the Wright brothers in 1903, calling the
race a “historic achievement.”

By hosting the event, the U.S. military is aiming to comply
with a congressional mandate for a third of U.S. military
vehicles to be unmanned by 2015.

But DARPA’s Tether said that could be accomplished earlier,
based on the technology shown so far in this year’s race.

“It’s closer than we think,” Tether said. “We could see
convoys deployed in as early as 5 years.”