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Great Robot Race, The
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Program Overview
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NOVA
follows the race to build an autonomous vehicle that can successfully complete
a rugged, 212-kilometer course across the Nevada desert in the
DARPA
Grand Challenge 2005.
The program:
notes that the race sponsor, the Defense Advanced Research Projects
Agency (DARPA), hopes the competition will help create unmanned vehicles that
can be used by the military. recalls the first Grand Challenge in 2004, in which the most successful
vehicle—named Sandstorm and run by Carnegie Mellon University
(CMU)—only traveled 11 kilometers. follows the CMU team as it prepares to run the race again this year with
two entries, Sandstorm and H1ghlander, and a team of more than 100 members. points out the major challenge of the race—developing a system that
will allow the robot to see. reviews the technologies used by some teams to help the robots see,
including various laser range finders, such as a spinning laser, a laser
mounted on a gimbal, and lasers combined with a video camera—all tied
into software programmed to interpret data being received. showcases the diversity of vehicles and teams entered into the race,
including a standard truck entered by a team headed by two brothers who run an
audio speaker company, a six-wheel-drive vehicle led by a consortium of defense
contractors, and a motorcycle team led by a group of engineering students and
recent grads. contrasts the different approaches taken by a small Stanford University
team with its entry, Stanley, to that of rival CMU. documents the qualification rounds in which a field of 40 vehicles is
narrowed to 20. recounts the day of the race from when teams receive their course
directions two hours before start time to the progress the vehicles make during
their historic bids to complete the course. reports on the five teams that finished the race and explores the
implications of successful completion of the Grand Challenge.
Taping Rights: Can be used up to one year after the program is taped off the air.
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