Junior – Son of Stanley set for DARPA Urban Challenge

“You could claim that moving from pixelated perception, where the robot looks at sensor data to understanding and predicting the environment, is a Holy Grail of artificial intelligence,” says Thrun. Junior’s name is not only an implicit homage to its predecessor, but also to Stanford University’s namesake, Leland Stanford, Jr. Carrying this sense of history, Junior will set out to make technology history of its own and pave the way to a future where autonomous cars can make driving safer, more accessible and more efficient. Self-driving cars could give drivers newfound free time.

“You could claim that moving from pixelated perception, where the robot looks at sensor data to understanding and predicting the environment, is a Holy Grail of artificial intelligence,” says Thrun.

The racing team, based in the School of Engineering, is supported by returning industry team members Intel, MDV-Mohr Davidow Ventures, Red Bull and Volkswagen of America and joined this year by new supporters Applanix, Google and NXP Semiconductors. DARPA also has provided $1 million of funding.

The body

Make and model: 2006 Volkswagen Passat wagon Engine: 4-cylinder turbo diesel injection Transmission: Six-speed direct shift gearbox Engine cubic capacity: 1968cc Fuel Consumption: City: 25.5 mpg (9.2l/100km) Highway: 42.7 mpg (5.5l/100km) Combined: 34.6 mpg (6.8l/100km) Power: 140 hp (103kW) at 4000rpm Torque: 236 lb ft (320Nm) at 1800-2500 rpm Top speed: 126miles/h (203km/h) Acceleration 0-100km/h: 10.1sec Power is provided by the engine through a high-current prototype alternator and a battery-backed, electronically-controlled power system. The senses

Position: Junior's position and orientation are determined by a cutting-edge Applanix POS LV 420 system that is optimized for adverse GPS environments. The system provides real time integration of multiple dual-frequency GPS receivers, a high- performance inertial measurement unit (IMU), wheel odometry, and Omnistar's satellite- based Virtual Base Station (VBS) service. Real time accuracy exceeds 35cm and 1/50th of a degree. Sight: is provided by several state-of-the-art sensors. A Velodyne HD Lidar looks in every direction at once. It combines 64 individual lasers into millions of 3D points per second at up to 50m range. An Ibeo ALASCA XT Lidar handles long ranges, with four scanning planes reaching as far as 200m. A Point Grey Ladybug 2 provides six video cameras that produce near-high-definition video in every direction. SICK Lidar scanners (which Stanley used in 2005) are used for precision navigation at low speeds.

The brains

Hardware: Provided by rackmount servers equipped with Intel's latest Dual and Quad Core processors. Data is processed from instruments as frequently as 200 times a second. Software: Integrated, custom-coded modules include a planner (making decisions, choosing routes), a mapper (transforming sensor readings into environment understanding), a localizer (refining GPS position by visual observations), and a controller (actuating the planner decisions on the car).