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SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 1: Robots Race Across Desert

On Saturday, October 8, a crowd of spectators gathered in the deserts near Primm, Nevada. They had come to watch some unique motor vehicles race over the desert path.

Each of the motored vehicles in Saturday’s race traveled under the guidance of a computer-operated control system. Each of the vehicles was really a type of robot! The U.S. Department of Defense needs to develop vehicles that can operate autonomously--or without drivers--in war zones because Congress passed a law requiring the fighting forces of America to have robots in 1/3 of their motorized ground vehicles by the year 2015.

In 2004, the first year this Pentagon-sponsored race was held, none of the robots managed to finish a 150-mile course. This year the Pentagon decided to boost the prize money to $2 million. On Saturday, a total of 5 different vehicles qualified to attempt the 131-mile course. Those 5 vehicles raced in the Defense Department’s Grand Challenge.

Sebastian Thrun, a member of the Stanford team, speaking to a reporter from the LA Times, said, “This has been mind-blowing.” The Times reported that Thrun later poured a bottle of champagne over the top of a vehicle named “Stanley.” “Stanley,” the vehicle built by the team from Stanford University, helped the Stanford team win the $2 million prize.

Laser sensors, a Global Positioning System, radar and cameras all came standard on each of the vehicles in the Challenge. Anthony Tether, a member of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), told the Times that he expected such technology to eventually be adapted to passenger cars. Such proposed uses for the technology in these desert robots could save thousands of lives.

--Written by Sue Chehrenegar

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