Comment Re:Still too slow (Score 3, Informative) 129
There were hard speed limits set on various sections of the qualifier course. The best performing vehicle, H1ghlander, executed the course within a few seconds of the best possible time given the constraints. Performance on the NQE course has about as much to do with race-success as grating cheese does with belly dancing.
At least three of the vehicles that qualified for the race have performed 170 mile runs at race-success pace on mixed road/off-road courses that should simulate race conditions very closely. Many of the vehicles have code in place that allows top speeds over forty miles per hour when long, straight, smooth sections of course are detected.
I know that the CMU teams pre-plan their runs in the two hour period between receipt of the course waypoint file and the beginning of the race. They will not load a plan designed to execute in more than ten hours and, given the quality of the competition this year, I betcha they'll be aiming at eight.
A hot issue this year that I haven't seen discussed on public forums is intent-to-pass. My understanding is that DARPA will force a vehicle into 'pause' mode if it is being overtaken by a faster competitor. I'm willing to bet there will be some post-race howling around that dynamic.
At least three of the vehicles that qualified for the race have performed 170 mile runs at race-success pace on mixed road/off-road courses that should simulate race conditions very closely. Many of the vehicles have code in place that allows top speeds over forty miles per hour when long, straight, smooth sections of course are detected.
I know that the CMU teams pre-plan their runs in the two hour period between receipt of the course waypoint file and the beginning of the race. They will not load a plan designed to execute in more than ten hours and, given the quality of the competition this year, I betcha they'll be aiming at eight.
A hot issue this year that I haven't seen discussed on public forums is intent-to-pass. My understanding is that DARPA will force a vehicle into 'pause' mode if it is being overtaken by a faster competitor. I'm willing to bet there will be some post-race howling around that dynamic.
