It was a case of too much work, too little sleep, and too much voltage that nearly doomed Team Case's entry in the DARPA Urban Challenge. One team member accidentally connected 24-volt laser range finders belonging to the team's robot dune buggy, named Dexter, into a 48-volt power supply, frying them instantly.
Fortunately for Team Case, recently eliminated Sting Racing had no further use for its LIDARs and donated two. "Consider them organ donations," said Sting team leader Tucker Balch. One more unit donated by Team Caltech put Team Case back in action in time for qualifying trials on Test Area B, the navigation-and-parking course.
Unfortunately, Dexter misbehaved out of the gate, heading for the edge of the course, walled off with concrete K-rails. After DARPA officials shut the vehicle down and team members wheeled it back to the starting gate, it again made a beeline for the K-rails, this time trying to climb them before officials hit the pause switch.
Officials gave the team another shot later in the afternoon, however, and, glitch fixed, Dexter headed out into the course without further mishap, letting Team Case survive another day of qualifying trials.
Dexter is the only car in the race without any seating for humans, and it's the only one to be built from the ground up as a robot car. It made a good showing in the 2005 Grand Challenge, covering 81 miles of the 132-mile course for Team ENSCO before a blown tire forced it out.
