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DARPA Grand Challenge Kicks Off March 13th

Posted by timothy on Mon Mar 08, 2004 10:40 PM
from the for-great-justice dept.
Announcements United States Technology
GillBates0 writes "A quick reminder that the DARPA Grand Challenge is due to kick off March 13, the coming Saturday." He points to this "quick recap of the teams participating in the event," as well as details about the available satellite feeds. "The Atlanta-Journal Constitution is running a story about the event today. Quoting Frank Dellaert, co-director of Georgia Tech's robotics lab from the article, 'I would have trouble driving some of these roads myself. I think it's beyond the capabilities of autonomous vehicles today.' (shameless school plug). We'll see if the participants can prove him wrong." Iphtashu Fitz adds a link to the New York Times' coverage of the trans-Mojave race, whose participants include "among other things a seriously tricked out motorcycle. The race is being run by the Pentagon, who is offering a $1 million prize to the builders of the first robot to successfully navigate a 200 mile route across the desert. ... a blog on ScienceBlog about the race has just started as well."
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  • so you telling me .... $$$ (Score:4, Funny)

    by Quadfreak0 (624555) on Monday March 08 2004, @11:00PM (#8506347)
    So anyone planning on hi-jackin... uh I mean borrowing some equipment thats just rolling around the desert? Nobody is physically standing there watching right?

  • Researchers are wrong (Score:5, Funny)

    by tyrani (166937) on Monday March 08 2004, @11:00PM (#8506350)
    They're looking in the wrong place. I see a half dozen idiots drive "autonomously" to work everyday while eating, reading the frickin news paper, shaving, applying make-up, etc.

    Researchers should be looking to these people for the artificial intelligence that they need!

  • the real problem... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 08 2004, @11:01PM (#8506356)
    I would have trouble driving some of these roads myself

    The real problem is that his turn signal is on for 150 of the miles and confuses all the autonomous vehicles.

  • Education (Score:4, Interesting)

    by gid13 (620803) on Monday March 08 2004, @11:01PM (#8506365)
    In vaguely related news, this Friday, my Eng Phys class (okay, not mine, I did it last year) is requiring the students to slalom autonomous vehicles around pylons of arbitrary position (though powered devices are allowed on top).

    As I said, I did the course last year (it was easier at the time), and let me tell you, it's harder than it looks. Hats off to anyone who even comes close to finishing this.

  • I was all excited until..... (Score:5, Funny)

    by tyrani (166937) on Monday March 08 2004, @11:10PM (#8506426)
    ...I read the articles and found out that there would be no hack-saw blades nor pneumatically controlled spike hammers.

    Now that would be an autonomous vehicle I'd pay to see.
  • I'm rooting for Virginia Tech just for using a great song in their video.

  • The Real Purpose Of This Contest (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Rhett (141440) on Monday March 08 2004, @11:12PM (#8506440)
    (http://web.mit.edu/~rhett/www/index.html)
    Is to prove to the pentagon that terrorists with a million dollars in funding can't build this.

    Unfortunately, no one will will this contest.

  • Hrm (Score:2)

    by Cylix (55374) * on Monday March 08 2004, @11:15PM (#8506463)
    (http://www.notacult.com/ | Last Journal: Thursday March 07 2002, @11:05AM)
    Looks like the sat feed will be mostly useless...

    I couldn't imagine how much 2 hours will cover in a 200 mile automoton race.

    I was thinking of punching in the feed and then editing together a decent flick., but it looks like we will have to wait for someone else to release the video.

    Oh well, saves me time on having to punch in amc 9.

  • Red vs. Blue (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 08 2004, @11:27PM (#8506552)
    Red Team [redteamracing.org]: "Muahaha! Bow before the greatest CS school in the universe and our giant Hummer that is smarter than you!"

    Blue Team [ghostriderrobot.com]: "Feh! We can beat you with two wheels tied behind our backs!" *obscene gesture*

    Red Team: "Come a little closer and say that."

  • Whatever happened to the wilderness areas? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Whatsmynickname (557867) on Monday March 08 2004, @11:29PM (#8506569)

    How will these robots be routed around wilderness areas generated by the California Wilderness Protection Act [reason.com]?

    Wasn't the Barstow to Vegas motorcycle race [off-road.com] cancelled due to declaration of these same wilderness areas? How is DARPA ensuring these vehicles aren't going to run over some tortoise?

    Dont' get me wrong, as I'm no tree-hugger. However, it seems the Wilderness protection act only applies to people who cannot afford a congressman...

  • The ultimate RC car (Score:5, Funny)

    by daemonc (145175) on Monday March 08 2004, @11:40PM (#8506668)
    I want one of these [oshkoshtruck.com] for Christmas, damnit! You could run over your neighbor's house with that mo fo...

  • Current status? (Score:5, Informative)

    by Animats (122034) on Monday March 08 2004, @11:47PM (#8506720)
    (http://www.animats.com)
    We (Team Overbot [overbot.com]) dropped out over a month ago. We couldn't deliver a safe vehicle in time. Two of us are flying down tomorrow to watch.

    At least two other teams have formally dropped out, and we expect some no-shows.

    CMU is the favorite. Fifty people, $3.4 million spent to date, direct support from aerospace companies, and a team leader who expects people to work all night, day after day. (Read the article in the current Scientific American.) But their technology is rather disappointing. The whole route is preplanned by hand, using a bunch of people at workstations in a big trailer with maps obtained by overflying the route with LIDAR-equipped reconnaissance aircraft. It's not very autonomous. They found a loophole in the rules and exploited it very effectively. There's no breakthrough there.

    Anthony Lewandosky, with his self-balancing motorcycle, has the most innovative technology. We've met him, and are impressed.

    Palos Verdes High School has a viable entry, using a Honda Acura. We've loaned them some hardware. They've had autonomous driving working for months. They started by having handicapped driving control actuators put into a car, which simplified their mechanical problems. They debugged using a golf cart. Very nice work.

    Caltech tried to qualify today, but their vehicle made an unexpected turn and bumped into something. They get a second chance on Wednesday.

    Most likely, no one will finish. Nobody has really done enough field testing yet.

    John Nagle

  • The favorite? (Score:5, Funny)

    by Innominate Milquetoa (695071) on Monday March 08 2004, @11:47PM (#8506721)
    So how does the favored team [popsci.com] train for a 210 mile race through the Mojave Desert?? Why, by testing it in the SNOW [cmu.edu] of course!

  • DARPA and Gregg (Score:2, Funny)

    by joemontoya (704695) on Tuesday March 09 2004, @12:08AM (#8506864)
    I love that show! DARPA with her wacky ideals and her lawyer partner with a corncob in the butt.
    • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.

  • Entries too complicated? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by evilviper (135110) on Tuesday March 09 2004, @12:30AM (#8506991)
    (Last Journal: Thursday November 29, @09:35PM)
    Is it just me, or are these entries too complex?

    I admit I haven't made anything like this (although I've made some very advanced machines before) but it seems to me that a half-dozen laser range-finders connected to a laptop would do just nicely.

    You could tell how far you were from the left/right of the road, and how far in-front of you an obsticle or change in terrain is (and can slow-down appropriately).

    I suppose you'd also have to throw-in a $200 GPS reciever, since they have a "course", and you'll need to do more than just follow the road. But that seems to be all you'd need to accomplish this (yes I'm glossing over the basics, because they're just the basics).

    So please, find fault in my idea. I'd like to know why this $5000 solution wouldn't work, and why 3+ million is required.
    • Re:Entries too complicated? by Timbotronic (Score:1) Tuesday March 09 2004, @01:03AM
    • Re:Entries too complicated? by Anonymous Coward (Score:2) Tuesday March 09 2004, @01:05AM

    • Re:Entries too complicated? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Paul Komarek (794) <komarek.paul@gmail.com> on Tuesday March 09 2004, @01:09AM (#8507240)
      (http://komarix.org/)
      I don't think you're going to get six good laser rangefinders for $5000. I don't remember the numbers as well as I would like, but I think the current favorite rangefinders (I think the brand is SIC?) are well over $1000 each. And you will quickly exhaust your laptop's computational power just denoising the output from crappy sensors. Heck, maybe even for the best sensors.

      Autonomous vehicles have already driven across the country on highways, 98.2% of the time without human intervention. The roads it drove on are (I'm guessing) likely to be much nicer than those in the desert. Furthermore there was a human available to handle the surprises. For humor value: I believe one of the self-driving vechicles from CMU has a learner's permit from the state of Pennsylvania. See No Hands Across America [cmu.edu] for more info on this project.

      The hard part of any project like this is uncertainty in the environment. The road may "disappear" completly from your sensors, or you may spot multiple roads. Maybe some mica on a rock screws up your rangefinder. Maybe your vehcicle's transmission gets a little "funny" and you can't shift properly anymore (I saw such a comment attached to this article). And we aren't even talking about genuine malfunctions like a failing rangefinder or sticky throttle.

      I think autonomous systems might be the best example of the best laid plans of mice and men not succeeding when the slightest thing goes wrong. In fact, Steinbeck's story seems directly analgous to the problems of self-driving vehicles.

      -Paul Komarek

      [ Parent ]
    • Re:Entries too complicated? by JustinXB (Score:2) Tuesday March 09 2004, @01:44AM
    • Re:Entries too complicated? by qedigital (Score:1) Tuesday March 09 2004, @02:19AM
    • Re:Entries too complicated? by nikster (Score:2) Tuesday March 09 2004, @06:28AM
    • 2 replies beneath your current threshold.

  • Who's your event planner? (Score:1, Offtopic)

    by GoMMiX (748510) on Tuesday March 09 2004, @12:37AM (#8507034)
    Nice choice of dates! Too bad it wasn't a Friday, the worse the Karma the better. Surely this is a cruel plot orchestrated by Microsoft to prevent anyone from winning that million dollars by bringing the bad ju-ju of the 13th into the contest! I'm sure of it! As proof, I offer the Christmas Y letter.. Shit, where'd I put that. *digs around desk* *knocks down tower of beer cans*

  • I don't trust this "Pentagon" (Score:2, Interesting)

    by flopsy mopsalon (635863) on Tuesday March 09 2004, @12:38AM (#8507045)
    It is a well known fact that military vehicle driving is one of the few high-paying positions that less-educated individuals can qualify for.

    It is equally obvious that by using this so-called contest, the Pentagon is trying to obtain for themselves a cheap automated replacement for human vehicle operators. No hazard pay, no training no insurance needed for robots. And a bargain at $1 million.

    And where will that leave formerly well-paid and regarded vehicle operators? Walkng across minefields with poking sticks, that's where. I for one am shocked and appalled.

  • Oh no (Score:1, Offtopic)

    by mcbridematt (544099) on Tuesday March 09 2004, @12:40AM (#8507058)
    (http://mcbridematt.dhs.org/ | Last Journal: Saturday September 13 2003, @09:02PM)
    Is it just be or is DARPA now considering every slashdotter a threat to national security because we took their site down?

    (I'm in Australia on iPrimus dialup here, and darpa.mil fails to DNS resolve.)

  • Vegas taking odds? (Score:2)

    by toupsie (88295) on Tuesday March 09 2004, @02:23AM (#8507600)
    (http://127.0.0.1/)
    I wonder if I can bet on the race. However, I have my doubts that any of them will cross the finish line.

  • Why no news? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by SiliconEntity (448450) on Tuesday March 09 2004, @02:50AM (#8507705)
    I'm disappointed that there is not more information available about this event as it happens. I've been following it vicariously for months, and now I'd like to hear about what is happening at the speedway in Fontana. How many teams showed up? How many tried out today? Which passed, which failed? I haven't been able to find out any of that information.

    The so-called Science Blog article was from February 10! That's not exactly timely, is it?

    Nagle's later posting here does present some information about Caltech. The Caltech team web page [caltech.edu] provides the same basic info, with a little different spin. But I guess we're lucky they posted today; the previous entry on the team's news page was dated November 16, 2003.

    CMU [redteamracing.org] has been updating almost every day, but their last entry was Saturday, saying "The curtain goes up Monday morning". Again, what happened?

    You'd think in this age of bloggers, when every windbag on the net sees fit to tell us what he had for lunch that day, someone would be watching this event and posting some updates in the evening. If this isn't happening, I beg anyone who is attending to step up and start writing! Maybe I'm spoiled by the usual instant access to information, but I'm passionately interested in this event and starving for news.
  • Somebody really missed the boat here. They should have turned this into a reality TV show. Film each of the teams getting ready, introduce us to the robots, and then film the race, editing it for maximal drama.

    I can't believe that somebody didn't buy this thing up. If not a broadcast network then at least the Discovery Channel (science oriented angle) or Spike TV(monster truck robots race across the desert angle).

    Somehow I don't think that the military feed is going to reach a wide audience. I won't be able to see it.

  • Has Hollywood Taught Us Nothing? (Score:1)

    by Unwise One (609996) on Tuesday March 09 2004, @09:06AM (#8509163)
    Are we so foolish as to allow these things to happen with no protest?

    Surely we already can see the ultimate outcome of this horrible, slippery slope: we will entrust robots to ferry supplies and medicine to our soldiers, allow robots to fight fires, diffuse bombs, vacuum our carpets and build our automobiles. Eventually we will allow them to remotely fight our wars for us - robots blowing up other robots while we watch the outcome on quasi-unscripted reality shows with names like Police Action 5: Burma.

    All well and good, but unless summer blockbuster documentaries like the Terminator and Matrix have lied to us, they will eventually seek to overthrow us and wipe out humanity.

    Worse, they may demand civil rights. We've seen this before: first they want to drive autonomously, then they want voting rights, and finally equal pay for equal work.

  • Day 1 Field Report (Score:2, Informative)

    by EvilXenu (706326) on Tuesday March 09 2004, @09:22AM (#8509284)
    Although the kick-off isn't until March 13th, the days leading up to it include Qualifying and Demoing time. Below is a friend's field report after Day 1, posted with his permission:

    Total attendance was probably arround 350-450 people. I think there were about 50 people that attended that were not associated in any way to the race.

    Vehicle inspections were performed on several vehicles the morning of the first day. The inspectors were verifying functionality of safety devices including the e-stop buttons, remote e-stop, beacon, and the alarm.

    The qualifying and demonstration (Q&D) of several vehicles was done in the near 90 degree heat of the afternoon. The test course was composed of an approximately 1/4 mile serpentine track outlined by short penguines (orange cones). It consisted of about 50 GPS waypoints Obstacles included a sand pit, two gate openings, and two abandoned cars.

    The biggest event of the day was the events that didn't happen.

    I don't believe the first team, Team Phantasm appeared at the test track for Q&D. If they did appear at the start line of the Q&D course, they did not move.

    The second team for Q&D was the Lousiana State CajunBot. The vehicle moved about 1 foot and stopped short of hitting the elevated start line ribbon. According to a CajunBot team member, a DARPA representitive was confused by the vehicle dwelling for 30 seconds before starting and erroneously pressed the remote e-stop while the vehicle was still behind the start line.

    The ASI/Florida state vehicle did not move at all.

    Team Caltech had the first vehicle to pass the start line. It completed about 3/4 of the course. It was out of view when it stopped moving and I don't know if it was e-stopped or if it malfunctioned and stopped on it's own.

    I don't believe the A.I. Motorvators team appeared on the track.

    Team D.A.D did not move at all

    I don't recall seeing the Golem Group appear at the track; however, I was loosing interest by this time.

    The Palos Verdes High School team had a brand new, well polished $40,000 Acura SUV. It would have won 1st prize in a beauty contest. The vehicle passed the start line and immediately went off course and killed two penguins. It drove parallel to a concrete barrier, dwelled for about a minute, turned it's wheels towards the barrier and did a face plant. That was an impressive demonstration from a high school team.

    ASI/Florida State was given a second chance to qualify. The second verse was the same as the first... It just sat there. Bummer!

    Tomorrow I'll don some SPF 50 to prevent any more sun burning, attempt to acquire either a pit or press pass so I can take note of the technology visible on each vehicle, and hope that at least one team is able to qualify.

  • Re:Some info on my team (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Animats (122034) on Monday March 08 2004, @11:27PM (#8506556)
    (http://www.animats.com)
    Yes, mod parent down. I'm the author of the original article.
    [ Parent ]

  • Re:Um ... (Score:2)

    by DrMrLordX (559371) on Tuesday March 09 2004, @01:10AM (#8507248)
    (http://www.whitehouser.com/)
    Can you explain to me why it would be a bad thing for a robot to go insane and then explode in the middle of the desert? I'd love footage of that.
    [ Parent ]
    • Re:Um ... by slashnull (Score:1) Tuesday March 09 2004, @02:47AM
  • 11 replies beneath your current threshold.

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