DARPA Grand Challenge winner returns to Silicon Valley

The pioneering autonomous vehicle that won the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge will complete its world tour with a visit to its home town before taking its place at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Dubbed "Stanley", the robotic Volkswagen Touareg developed by the Stanford Racing Team will be on show at the Silicon Valley The Tech Museum of Innovation from June 20 through July 17.

Created in collaboration with Stanford University’s School of Engineering, Volkswagen, MDV–Mohr Davidow Ventures and Intel, the driver-less, biodiesel-operated Volkswagen Touareg beat 22 other competitors around the 132-mile Mojave Desert course. It was a close race though - the finishing time of six hours, 53 minutes and 58 seconds at an average speed of 19.1 mph was only 10 minutes faster than "Sandstorm" from Carnegie-Mellon University.

The technology demonstrated at the event has already led to advances in driver assistance systems in production automobiles such as adaptive cruise control and ESP (Electronic Stabilization Program).

The Stanley exhibit will be located in New Venture Hall on the lobby level of The Tech Museum of Innovation and entry is free.

Lots more pics from the 2005 Grand Challenge can be found here.