Funded By The U.S. Department of Defense, The DARPA Urban Challenge Hopes To Develop Vehicles That will Drive Autonomously

Imagine a vehicle that never gets into an accident. Or imagine being in a vehicle and safely using your cell phone or safely sending and receiving e-mails while driving. Imagine rarely getting stuck in traffic.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Defense that’s responsible for the development of new technology for use by the military. Their latest project is to encourage the development of vehicles that will drive themselves, autonomously.

Boss, a Chevrolet Tahoe is a robotic vehicle that is equipped with 25 lasers, cameras and radars to view the world, sensing objects such as buildings, pedestrians and cars. It also sees features like lane markings, curbs and sidewalks. Its planning software generates routes through road networks. The Boss will be put to the test during The Urban Challenge, a sixty mile race across a city or suburban environment where a number of robots will be interacting with traffic and other vehicles.

While much of the development of these vehicles will have a profound effect on the safety of our troops, consumers and businesses will also gain. Automotive vehicles could some day play a role in mining, farming and other potentially dangerous tasks as well.

The Urban Challenge will be held in November. To learn more about the race and the technology, log on to: http://www.tartanracing.org/

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