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Urban Challenge Bots Ready to Race On Saturday

Their qualifying runs are complete, their last software fixes in, the vehicles are gassed up–and now the members of the 11 teams competing in the Pentagon’s robot car race are heading to the main tent for a last hurrah–a kickoff barbecue–before race day. The robot cars–all stock vehicles outfitted with laser range finders, cameras and […]
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Their qualifying runs are complete, their last software fixes in, the vehicles are gassed up–and now the members of the 11 teams competing in the Pentagon's robot car race are heading to the main tent for a last hurrah–a kickoff barbecue–before race day.

The robot cars–all stock vehicles outfitted with laser range finders, cameras and other sensors, and crammed full of computers–will line up on the starting line early tomorrow morning, and take off at 8:00 a.m. on perhaps the strangest auto race ever.

The cars will all have to obey a 30-mile-per-hour speed limit, will have to stop at intersections, signal their turns, and obey all California traffic laws. And absolutely no one will be driving–not by remote control, and certainly not in the driver's seats.

Along with the robots will be 50 brave souls wearing crash helmets and driving Ford Tauruses to provide circulating traffic for the robots, whose purpose is to test the technologies for fully autonomous vehicles. The Pentagon wants robots to drive convoys in Iraq. Auto companies want the tech to enable their products to keep themselves out of accidents. And the teams competing in the race have their eyes on the $2 million first prize, $1 million second place prize, and $500,000 third place prize.

The cars won't all start the race at the same time. They'll each be driving different missions, three total for each one, and they'll return to the starting line for each mission. The course covers 60 miles in all, and the winning cars will have to complete all of their missions within six hours.

The course features two big wheel-like "zones," where traffic snarls are sure to occur, an off-road section leading to a straightaway, where one team member tells me he expects to see some good "bot-on-bot action" with robots trying to pass each other, and a parking area, outlined in red on this map, where bots will have to maneuver around strategically placed junk-yard vehicles.

For complete race coverage, keep your browser pointed right here at the Danger Room. Also look for DARPA's webcast at www.darpa.mil/grandchallenge/.

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