Robotic Cars To Navigate Urban Race

Anthony Fontanelle
February 21, 2007

It may sound like a science fair project but it is not. Engineers at Stanford University are testing an unmanned robotic car to navigate urban race in less than one year. The car is also built to challenge both intersections and right of way.

“Junior,” a 2006 Volkswagen Passat wagon, is the latest entry in the renowned road race sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Department of Defense’s research and development arm. The robotic car from Stanford will compete in the DARPA Urban Challenge, the agency’s so-called most challenging derby.

“These cars are driven by artificial intelligence,” said Sebastian Thrun, a computer science and electrical engineering professor at Stanford, who unveiled his plans for Junior this week at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science which was held in San Francisco.

Thrun and Stanford took the same path before. In the 2005 race, Stanford’s entry which was then dubbed “Stanley,” won first place. But that race was run in the Nevada desert. “The next challenge will be to drive where we live,” said Thrun, who spoke on a panel about the future of robotics. “This new generation of robots is making the case that they can safely navigate without any human assistance,” added Thrun.

In this year’s challenge, several universities in the United States, along with their corporate partners, have expressed their commitment to the race. Aside from Stanford, another renowned name which has earlier verified its commitment to the event is the Carnegie Mellon University, which finished second to Stanford in the 2005 challenge.

Thrun said the project may pave the way for a future in which self-driving cars will make transportation safer for those who, like the elderly, might rather ride than drive. “By 2030, we should be able to deploy this technology on highways reliably,” he said.

Thrun said he expected a battlefield version of the car to be available as early as 2015. “To be able to understand your environment, predict what happens next and be able to react when something goes slightly wrong — that is the most challenging,” said Stanford research engineer Mike Montemerlo.

Driving in the city is a different environment. It does not only require robotic cars to detect obstacles, they must make sense of them. Engineers at the Volkswagen of America Electronics Research Laboratory in Palo Alto, Calif. have upgraded the brakes and throttle of “Junior” so as to pave the way for a high-performing race car. The efficiency of EBC brake rotors are considered in making the performance of the car even more breath-taking.

“Junior” displays an array of sophisticated sensors, including a range-finding laser that provides a three-dimensional, 360-degree view of its surroundings in near-real time. Its computer capabilities are four times more powerful than Stanley’s. To make the capabilities functional, about a dozen students, researchers and faculty at Stanford worked on software to manage driving tasks like mapping, perception, and planning.

The location of the 2007 race will be announced in October. The fastest car to navigate the course will bag $2 million.

Source:  Amazines.com