Brawn to Brains
DARPA changes the challenge; only intelligent robots need apply
By PATRICIA KIME, Seapower Correspondent
Software and Sensors
Automobile manufacturer Toyota began marketing a self-parking car, the Lexus LS460, in
2006. Now, the Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency (DARPA) aims to take that another
step further, with a vehicle that drives itself.
As part of a congressionally mandated goal to have
one-third of the armed services’ operational ground
combat vehicles unmanned by 2015, DARPA has provided a forum to spur development of autonomous
ground vehicles. In 2004 and 2005, DARPA’s Grand
Challenge competition made headlines as driverless
vehicles attempted to maneuver more than 100 miles
of harsh terrain across California’s Mojave Desert.
This year, the Grand Challenge adds a twist to its
contest, and if the requirements are met, driverless
vehicles could soon be put to use for logistics support,
antimine operations, explosive ordnance transport,
operations and more.
In the 2007 race, dubbed Urban Challenge, competitors must traverse a mock city, complete with road
rules, traffic, intersections, obstacles and clueless mannequins.
DARPA Director Tony Tether announced Aug. 9 that
the competition will be held in Victorville, Calif., at the
former George Air Force Base. A portion of the base
now used by the Army for urban
operations training will host the
competition.
DARPA selected the location
because its network of roads simulates the terrain American forces
operate in overseas, according to a
press release.
“The robotic vehicles will conduct simulated military supply
missions at the site. This adds
many of the elements these vehicles would face in operational
environments,” Tether said.
Thirty-six teams have been invited to the National Qualification Event, scheduled to
begin Oct. 26. The top 20 teams are expected to move
on to the final Urban Challenge competition Nov. 3.
“It was an important step to have autonomous
ground vehicles that can navigate and drive across open
and difficult terrain from city to city. But the next big
leap will be an autonomous vehicle that can navigate
and operate in traffic, a far more complex challenge for
a ‘robotic’ driver,” Tether told a House Armed Services
subcommittee March 21.
The changes mean that the challenge this year will
focus more on software, sensors and programming than
on hardware capabilities. In previous challenges, competitors needed to ensure that their vehicles would
travel at least 100 miles around rocks, through gulleys,
tunnels and sand.
But on desert terrain, trail obstacles served as
objects to bypass. In an urban setting, an obstruction
in a roadway forces a number of decisions to be made.
If the vehicle can pass on the right, is there a shoulder
or sidewalk with people on it? If the vehicle chooses
the left, is there an oncoming car or traffic?
“The past Grand Challenge vehicles were almost
entirely based on Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and
LIDAR [light detection and ranging] sensors that could-
DARPA’s “next big leap” is to devise robotic vehicles that can
operate in traffic.
■ Those with the best software and sensors will be among the
first to the finish line.
■ The vehicles will not know the course until the last minute, and
GPS is not always reliable in an urban setting.
■ The “brains” of one competitor, the Cajunbot II, include two scanning laser systems, three Doppler radars and a sonar.
