Published February 18th, 2003 by Jim O'Halloran
DARPA Grand Challenge
DARPA (Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency), the people who bought us the Internet, is conducting the DARPA Grand Challenge. This is a race of autonomous, un-manned, self driving vehicles, no biological entities driving, no remote control allowed. The rules are here .
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) intends to conduct a challenge of autonomous ground vehicles (see “Technical Details” for a definition) between Los Angeles, CA and Las Vegas, NV in 2004. A cash award will be granted to the winning team. The route will feature both on-road and off-road portions and will include extremely rugged, challenging terrain and obstacles.
Charlie Arnold Says
Check out RedTeamRacing.org, which highlights the Carnegie Mellon University entry into the Grand Challenge.
Jul 22nd, 2003 at 10:25 pm
Dave Says
Darpa already gave the Red team 5.5 million to enter this race …check it out on Darpa mail site ! Poor other teams !
Sep 21st, 2003 at 10:40 am
Paul Says
Team SciAutonics entered in the Darpa Grand Challenge for Autonomous Vehicles invites you to Come join us on October 5th from 10-3 at the 18th Annual Westlake Village Auto Show , located at Townsgate and Village Glen in Westlake Village Ca. This is an opportunity to meet team members and get information about our company and our team. Featured Vehicle is The Autonomous (Truggy) The monster of the Desert. See you there !
SciAutonics LLC - Home Page
Sep 27th, 2003 at 10:44 am
Mark Says
Team intro in Las Vegas, Nov. 6
SCORE leading tests/survey team into desert
This week for $1 million DARPA Grand Challenge
74 Teams Have Officially Submitted Applications to date
For 2004 Autonomous Robotic Ground Vehicle Challenge
LOS ANGELES (October 5, 2003) — As the list of potential teams for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Grand Challenge for autonomous robotic ground vehicles continues to grow, SCORE International is leading the DARPA survey team for a week of testing in the desert between Barstow and Las Vegas.
Scheduled for March 13, 2004, the DARPA Grand Challenge will cover a course of approximately 250 miles between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, and the team that most quickly completes the route in less than the prescribed time will receive a cash prize of $1 million. This challenge is intended to spur the accelerated development of autonomous robotic ground vehicle technology for military applications, and is the first in a series of DARPA Grand Challenges planned by DARPA.
SCORE CEO/President Sal Fish has lead the DARPA course survey team to the Mojave desert for another week of methodical detailed plotting and identifying the three proposed routes being considered.
Additionally, this trip, which started today and continues to Friday, will be used to thoroughly test the specially-designed emergency ‘e-stop’ equipment which will be integrated into the computer system of each vehicle in next March’s challenge. The ‘e-stop’ equipment will be under the complete control of DARPA officials during the event.
“We have an incredible survey group that in numerous trips to the Southern California and Southern Nevada deserts have learned as much as it has taken 30 years for me to learn,” said Fish, whose SCORE International this year is celebrating 30 years as the world’s premier desert racing organization.
“The technology being used is the most sophisticated and finely developed that I have ever been associated with in all my experience. These e-stop components will add another significant degree of safety to the event.”
To date, 74 teams with a wide variety of backgrounds have officially submitted applications to participate in the inaugural DARPA Grand Challenge. In keeping with DARPA’s goal of fostering fresh thinking by attracting non-traditional participants, applicants range from major universities with corporate partners to amateur robotics and off-road racing enthusiasts. Each team must submit a technical paper on their vehicle by October 14, and the field will be finalized after the review of technical papers is complete on October 28.
“Although the DAPRA Grand Challenge is still five months away, it already has gained extensive international media coverage,” Fish added.
“Further, we become more confident each day that we will be able to identify a high-quality, 20-team field like we have planned from day one of this incredible project.”
Challenge officials have also announced that a special DARPA Grand Challenge Team Introduction media conference will be held on Thursday, Nov. 6, at 1 p.m. at the Las Vegas Convention Center in conjunction with the massive Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Convention.
All of the official entries in the DARPA Grand Challenge have also been invited to participate in the competitor’s conference, to be held Nov. 6-7, at the Orleans Hotel in Las Vegas.
Below are the major upcoming key dates for the DARPA Grand Challenge:
October 14, 2003: Application Period Closes, Technical Papers Due
October 28, 2003: Technical Paper Review Complete, Field Announced
November 6, 2003: Team Announcement Media Conference (SEMA Show, Las Vegas Convention Center)
November 6-7, 2003: Competitor’s Conference (Orleans Hotel, LasVegas)
March 10, 2004: DARPA-Tech Ceremonial Start (Anaheim (Calif.) Convention Center)
March 12, 2004: Qualification, Inspection and Demonstration Event (California Speedway-Fontana, Calif.)
March 13, 2004: Grand Challenge Main Event (Barstow, Calif. to near Las Vegas)
March 14, 2004: Recognition Ceremony (Las Vegas) Developing the DARPA Grand Challenge course has been DARPA’s primary focus since the beginning of the year, and organizers have worked to identify routes that are not only safe and avoid environmentally protected areas, but also offer a variety of rigorous terrain types.
With significant assistance from desert racing group SCORE International, the DARPA Grand Challenge team has mapped three different possible courses, and worked closely with appropriate federal, state and local authorities to gain the necessary permits. The starting line is now set for Barstow, CA, northeast of Los Angeles, and will finish somewhere in the vicinity of Las Vegas.
The large DARPA Grand Challenge team also benefits by using BFGoodrich Tire-shod Hummer H2 vehicles to maneuver around the desert during these extensive course survey expeditions.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is the central research and development organization for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD).
The Agency manages and directs basic and applied research and development projects for DoD, and pursues research and technology where the risk and payoff are both very high and where success may provide dramatic advances for traditional military roles and missions.
SCORE International, based in Los Angeles, sanctions and produces the six-race SCORE Desert Series, with three events each in Southern Nevada and Baja California, Mexico.
The final round of the six-race 2003 SCORE Desert Series will be the legendary 36th Annual Tecate SCORE Baja 1000, to be held Nov. 20-23, in Ensenada, Mexico, 65 miles South of the U.S. border at San Diego.
For information contact:
SCORE International at its Los Angeles headquarters
(818) 225-8402 or visit
the official Optima SCORE Desert Series website at:
www.score-international.com
Oct 9th, 2003 at 6:15 am
JohnF Says
We’ve formed a team in the Orlando area to enter the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge. We need sponsors and members. Anyone interested look us up at www.ravllc.com
Jun 13th, 2004 at 8:54 pm