[Brian C]

It looks like lots of folks are interested in Autonomous modes of operation. This is from this weeks issue of NAtional SpeedSport News.


$1 Mil To Win: No Drivers
Robots To Pilot Vehicles in Pentagon’s 25-Mile Grind

HARRISBURG, N.C. — Next March the Grand Challenge Race, a 250-mile cross country run from Anaheim, Calif. to Las Vegas, Nev., will
see a field of specially designed vehicles competing, all driven by robots. Our Defense Dep’t calls the contest an eye toward future
desert warfare and is putting up a $1 million winner’s purse. So far 18 companies, universities, robotics specialists and computer
scientists have signed up to enter. The goal of the Pentagon is to advance the design and technology of “autonomous” self-guided
ground vehicles that can operate in battle over rough terrain without human control. The Defense Dep’t got a little taste of what this new
development can do in the recent Afghani and Iraqi frays. Project manager, Army Colonel Jose Negron, compares the Grand Challenge
to Charles Lindbergh’s 1927 solo flight across the Atlantic, which led to the rise of commercial aviation. The vehicles must be completely
self-controlled, entrants being allowed only two commands, “start and stop.” Course maps will be distributed only two hours before the
6:30 a.m. March 13 start. Way points every quarter mile will be provided and a pit stop at the 180-mile mark is planned. A 10-hour time
limit is specified. There are no restrictions on the vehicles, so wheels, treads and/or legs are permitted. If there’s no winner the event
will be repeated through 2007 when the prize money budget runs out.