Stanford University wins DARPA Grand Challenge race for robots - five complete course

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Stanford University wins DARPA Grand Challenge race for robots - five complete course

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October 10, 2005 The DARPA Grand Challenge race for autonomous robotic vehicles has been run and won, with five robots completing the 132 mile course and the first four all finishing within minutes of each other. History will record however, that the winner was Stanford University’s Volkswagen-based "Stanley" beating out the two Carnegie Mellon Team Red entries by 11 minutes and 21 minutes respectively, with the Gray Team a further 16 minutes behind in fourth place. Had minor circumstances played out differently, any one of those four teams could have taken the US$2 million first prize and a place in history. As the Stanford vehicle crossed the line after 132 miles, the team's followers cheered and lifted team leader Sebastian Thrun shoulder high. Thrun is the director of Stanford's Artificial Intelligence Lab and Associate Professor of Computer Science at Stanford University. Congratulations to Stanford Artificial Intelligence Lab and to the team, and congratulations too to Carnegie Mellon robotics professor William "Red" Whittaker who put two vehicles in the race and finished with a close second and third place. It was a far cry from the results of the first DARPA Challenge, where the best-performed vehicle travelled just 7 miles – all but two of the 23 vehicles that started this event bettered that performance and four completed the course inside the allotted time. Most importantly, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) sponsorship of the event over the last two years has yielded pure gold – the US$2 million prize has catalysed a dramatic acceleration in the development of autonomous ground vehicle technologies and demonstrated conclusively that autonomous robotic vehicles can travel long distances across difficult terrain at militarily relevant rates of speed. Read on for a full report from Gizmag’s Robotics reporter, Dan Christian with images and assistance from Eric Zbinden.

Five robots successfully completed the grueling 131.2-mile course in the Mojave Desert on Saturday (the Gray Team finished fourth) , with the Team Terramax entry completing the course on Sunday, October 9.

The vehicle that completed the course in the shortest amount of time was “Stanley,” entered by Stanford University. The team wins the $2 million prize because it finished the entire course in the shortest elapsed time under 10 hours – six hours, 53 minutes and 58 seconds (6:53:58).

Two vehicles entered by Carnegie-Mellon University, Red Team’s “Sandstorm” (7:04:50) and Red Team Too’s “H1ghlander” (7:14:00) finished close behind. The Gray Team’s “KAT-5” finished at 7:30:16. Oshkosh Truck’s 8-ton TerraMax, also finished the course, but on Sunday. Its official elapsed time exceeded the 10-hour limit.

The first four finishers entered the history books as being the first ground vehicle robots to travel a great distance at relatively high speed within a specified time frame. Stanley’s average speed over the 131.6- mile desert course was 19.1 mph. Sandstorm averaged 18.6 mph, H1ghlander 18.2 mph, and KAT-5 17.5 mph.

“It’s incredible what Stanford and the two Carnegie-Mellon teams did today,” said DARPA Director Dr. Tony Tether. “When the Wright Brothers flew their little plane, they proved it could be done,” Tether continued. “And just as aviation ‘took off’ after those achievements, so will the very exciting and promising robotics technologies displayed here today.”

“We established the Grand Challenge program to help foster the development of autonomous vehicle technology that will some day help save the lives of Americans who are protecting our country on the battlefield,” said DARPA Grand Challenge Program Manager Ron Kurjanowicz. “The outcome of this great public event demonstrates that we have succeeded in our mission.”

“These vehicles haven’t just achieved world records, they’ve made history,” said Tether. Pointing out that DARPA’s mission is to accelerate the development of promising technologies, and then turn them over to others for the development of viable applications, Tether continued, “We have completed our mission here, and look forward to watching these exciting technologies take off.”

DARPA Grand Challenge Program Manager Ron Kurjanowicz added, “The Grand Challenge stimulated the creation of a new community of innovators – inventors, mechanics, computer scientists, engineers, and students – who typically have not been involved in Defense-related activities. The camaraderie and competitiveness that have been the hallmark of the Grand Challenge since its inception demonstrates that America’s heritage of ingenuity and resourcefulness is strong.”

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