Maddenation

Vacant Vehicles

I recently watched this Nova about “The Great Robot Race,” a contest sponsored by the US Department of Defense DARPA program. It was quite informative and amusing.

Not unlike “Battlebots” this contest requires unmanned vehicles to navigate a 130 mile desert course. Teams from Universities and research organizations and private citizens compete for a 2 M$ prize for successfully completing the course in less than 10 hours.

I especially enjoy the foulups, where the machines behave badly, even sometimes emulating shows like “When Animals Attack.” In 2004, no robot was able to complete the race, and the best vehicle broke down after about 7 miles. Many didn’t make it out of the starting area.

I 2005, results were better, but I won’t give away the results, in case you want to watch it.

Dad • Technologies • 04/02/06 • 0 comments

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