It's just after dawn here at the Southern California Logistics Airport in Victorville, CA. The autonomous cars are filing into the starting chutes, for the DARPA Urban Challenge, the human-driven control vehicles are lined up like taxi cabs at Los Angeles International Airport, and there's a buzz in the air that almost, but doesn't quite take off the last of the nighttime chill.
Annie Lien of Team AnnieWAY tells me she hardly slept last night, anticipating this moment.
The driver of the lead control vehicle grins as he describes his task to follow "the meanest and the fastest bot" on the course. He's ready at the E-stop switch in case the bot he's chasing, Carnegie Mellon's Boss, goes on a rampage.
The driver chasing Ben Franklin Racing Team's car says he just hopes the car he's following doesn't falter because he doesn't want to end his day early. "Have fun," a reporter tells him. He smiles around the cigarette dangling between his lips. "Oh, I will."
Spectators are streaming into the grounds. A long line of their cars stretching down Phantom Road leading into the base.
Opening ceremonies have just started with a woman singing the national anthem. The robots will be "launched" as they term it here, just after the ceremony, at 8:00 a.m. Pacific Time.
