Three autonomous vehicles crossed the finish line within the 6-hour time limit here at the DARPA Urban Challenge in Victorville, CA. DARPA director Tony Tether flagged the winning vehicles in as they completed the course two or three minutes apart.
First to finish the 60-mile race full of intersections, traffic, turns, parking challenges, and straightaways, was Stanford University's VW Passat, named Junior. Carnegie Mellon's Chevy Tahoe, Boss, came next, at 1:45 p.m., followed two or three minutes later by Virginia Tech's Ford Escape hybrid, Odin.
The bots started the race several minutes apart, and they had to complete different missions taking varying times, so it's not clear who will take home the $2 million first prize, the $1 million second-place prize, or the $500,000 third-place prize. Judges will compare notes and score sheets, which note any traffic infractions and other demerits, and Tether will announce the winners tomorrow morning.
Still on the course are Cornell and MIT. The Ben Franklin Racing Team's Toyota Prius came in just now, at 2:50 p.m. As I write this, MIT's vehicle is stuck on a section of unpaved road, apparently uncertain whether it's safe to move forward.
Even taking into account the race's few unclocked pauses, none of which lasted more than a handful of minutes, it seems unlikely that Ben Franklin or either of the bots on the course now, can be declared a winner given the race's 6-hour time limit. The race started just after 8:00 a.m.
