There are 15 teams scheduled to compete in the DARPA Grand Challenge tomorrow. Based on their performance in test runs the teams will be sent off in a time-trial format. The list is as follows:
1. Red Team Pittsburgh, PA
2. SciAutonics II Thousand Oaks, CA
3. Team Caltech Pasadena, CA
4. Digital Auto Drive (DAD) Morgan Hill, CA
5. Virginia Tech Blacksburg, VA
6. Axion Racing Westlake Village, CA
7. Team CajunBot Lafayette, LA
8. Team ENSCO Falls Church, VA
9. Team CIMAR Gainesville, FL and Logan, UT
10. Palos Verdes High School RoadWarriors Palos Verdes Estates, CA
11. SciAutonics I Thousand Oaks, CA
12. Team TerraMax Oshkosh, WI
13. Team TerraHawk Gardena, CA
14. The Golem Group Santa Monica, CA
15. The Blue Team Berkeley, CA
According to the BBC, “Only one robot racer, called Sandstorm,” reports the BBC, “managed to complete the short 1.5km qualifying course, which was designed to find out which vehicles were fit to take on the longer course.”
According to Boing Boing, there is a DARPA Grand Challenge live action web site. I wonder who they will get to do the analysis?
Sandstorm’s “eyes” consist of a laser range finder for mapping terrain combined with a stereovision system for obstacle classification and for recognizing moving objects. These sensors ride on a “neck” designed to keep the robot’s scanners on the road as it bounces through rough terrain. Sandstorm also scans the horizon with radar, which adds the ability to see through dust. In addition, there is a differential global positioning system (GPS) to help Sandstorm stay on course. This is tied to a high-fidelity map that the team will create and download when DARPA releases the waypoints for the course at 4:30 a.m., Saturday.
Source: “Sandstorm Qualifies”
Map reading will be critical in this endeavor. According to Steven Johnson, “What you need is a map that lets you block out all… excess information and concentrate on the regions that require more depth.”
Speed is essential for route planning, explained Michael Clark, a former NASA engineer who now heads the Red Team‘s route group. No one will know the exact race route until 4:30 a.m. March 13, two hours before the start of the race. Each team will be handed a computer disc containing thousands of Global Positioning Satellite coordinates, or “waypoints,” that will define the route.
Source: “CMU, the Favorite”
The Hummer-based vehicle, however, rolled over during an earlier practice run on Thursday afternoon, destroying much of its vision system, contained in a large dome set on top of the system. The vehicle was extensively rebuilt in the last four days by Carnegie students and researchers known as the Red Team, after its leader, William Whittaker, a university robotics pioneer who goes by the name of Red.
Source: “Successfully Navigates Test Course”
 Fredkin Research Professor at the Field Robotics Center in the Robotics Institute at CMU |
