It wasn't exactly the Daytona 500. Of the 13 bots that started Darpa's 142-mile desert race (Wired 12.03), none finished. The robocycle didn't even qualify, but it gave a demo. There's always next year, when first prize doubles to $2 million. Here are the 2004 results.
| Traveled | What Went Wrong | Lesson Learned
Red Team 1986 Humvee
| 7.4 miles
| Vehicle veered off course in mountainous section, got stuck on berm. Rubber on front wheels caught fire.
| �Code more driving logic into the software.�
SciAutonics II Dune Buggy
| 6.7 miles
| Lost GPS signal. Forgot there was a mountain between it and next checkpoint. Tried to drive through mountain.
| �Go around mountains, not through them.�
Digital Auto Drive 2003 Toyota Tundra
| 6.0 miles
| Vehicle stopped for traffic before crossing road. Small rock became wedged beneath tire. Vehicle wouldn�t accelerate hard enough to roll over it.
| �It�ll take us about an hour to teach the truck to step on it next time.�
Golem Group 1994 Ford F-150
| 5.2 miles
| Stalled while climbing its first major hill. Onboard computer didn�t give it enough gas.
| �Get the debugging done before we show up in the desert.�
Team Caltech 1996 Chevy Tahoe SUV
| 1.3 miles
| Vehicle sensors may have mistaken shadow for boulder. Veered off road to avoid, broke through barbed-wire fence.
| �If no forward motion is achieved, back up and try something else.�
Team TerraMax Six-wheel truck
| 1.2 miles
| Interpreted small bushes as enormous rocks and repeatedly backed away from them.
| �Get new sensors that can distinguish between bush and rock.�
SciAutonics I Four-wheel ATV
| 0.8 miles
| Hit bump and hard drive failed, causing vehicle to stop making turns.
| �Get solid state hard drives with no moving parts.�
Team Cimar 1993 Isuzu Trooper
| 0.5 miles
| Ran into some wire and got totally wrapped up in it.
| �The computer will plan the route next time.�
Team Ensco Honda ATV
| 0.2 miles
| Sped too fast along course. Flipped at second turn.
| �Go slower.�
Axion Racing 1994 Jeep Grand Cherokee
| 0.0 miles
| GPS went on fritz. Vehicle drove in circles in start area.
| �Get a new GPS.�
Team CajunBot Six-wheel ATV
| 0.0 miles
| On-off switch located on side of vehicle. Bumped into a wall on way out of start area. Turned self off.
| �Put the on-off switch somewhere else.�
Virginia Tech Modified golf cart
| 0.0 miles
| Brakes locked up in start area, forcing cart to rev engine. Vehicle started smoking and was removed from course.
| �Wake up earlier and test the machine before the race starts.�
Palos Verdes High School 2003 Acura MDX SUV
| 0.0 miles
| Software contained decimal point error. Slammed into 2-foot-tall cement barrier at 22 mph. Knocked barrier over.
| �Just like NASA. Even the best make mistakes.�
– Joshua Davis
| START
| “My Name Is John, and I’m a Textaholic”
| How to Get Megabits at 10,000 Volts
| The Not-So-Great Robot Race
