[nfb-talk] Military Tests Robotic VehiclesRE:

[Michael Bullis]

>From today's NY Times.  Looks like we're getting close.
Mike Bullis
 
Crashes and Traffic Jams in Military Test of Robotic Vehicles By JOHN
MARKOFF VICTORVILLE, Calif., Nov. 4 A Pentagon-sponsored robot race at a
former Air
Force base here on Saturday revealed that computer-controlled vehicles, at
least to date, have failings that are all too human. 
 
The contest, called the Grand Challenge and sponsored by the Defense
Advanced Research Projects Agency, or Darpa, featured both robot collisions
and robot
traffic jams. Yet the event also demonstrated that the state of the art in
robotics has reached the point where the most sophisticated autonomous
vehicles
can now drive comfortably and safely on a city course while surrounded by
traffic and other obstacles. 
 
'It was a good day in robotland,' said William L. Whittaker, a Carnegie
Mellon University professor who pioneered the idea of contests to help
advance robot
technology during the 1980s. 
 
The Chevrolet Tahoe from Mr. Whittaker's Tartan Team, sponsored by General
Motors and others, won the top prize this year. Although the car finished
just
minutes behind a Volkswagen-sponsored Passat designed by a group of Stanford
researchers, Darpa officials spent the night reviewing the cars'
performances
during three separate missions, including how well they adhered to
California's driving rules. 
 
On Sunday morning, they announced that the Carnegie Mellon car named Boss
had won first prize ahead of Junior from Stanford and Victor Tango from
Virginia
Tech. 
 
The event was the third in a series of races that have been held since 2004
to help meet a Congressional directive that requires the military to replace
a third of its fleet of logistics vehicles with robots by the middle of the
next decade. 
 
This year's race offered three prizes of $2 million, $1 million and $500,000
for the vehicles that were best able to navigate a 60-mile course in a
simulated
city in under six hours. 
 
During the last week, the field of 35 invited contestants was narrowed to 11
finalists. They included several Volkswagen Passats, a Subaru, a Chevrolet
Tahoe, a Toyota Prius, a Land Rover, a Ford Escape Hybrid, and an oversize
Marine Corps transport vehicle made by Oshkosh. 
 
'We've been looking at the problem of protecting people on the battlefield,'
said Norman Whitaker, the Darpa project manager for the event. He told the
more than 300 reporters attending the race that the vehicles, once started,
would perform tasks as varied as left-hand turns across oncoming traffic and
pulling in and out of narrow parking spaces, all without human intervention.

 
'There's no animal or midget inside controlling it or anything else,' he
said. 
 
To the casual bystander, the stream of robots left a disquieting impression
as each vehicle drove by with both drivers and passengers conspicuously
absent
as steering wheels twitched back and forth. 
 
'It's amazing how quickly you acclimatize to the idea of robot driving in
cities,' said Michael Montemerlo, a Stanford roboticist who headed the
programming
effort of the Passat that finished the course first. 
 
Each vehicle is a complex ensemble of sensors and computers that are
programmed to follow roads, avoid oncoming traffic, merge, pass and
occasionally even
cheat on the rules to get out of difficult situations. 
 
In addition to the prize money, the event, which has been held every 18
months, cost $20.5 million to produce this year. However, the organizers
described
it as an economical way to bring about rapid technological progress in a
field that is a military priority. 
 
Mr. Whitaker also said that the program was having a Sputnik-like impact in
the engineering and computer science departments of many universities, where
enrollments have jumped in response. 
 
During the contest, which began at 8 a.m. Saturday, it quickly became
apparent that there were disparities in the abilities of the vehicles. 
 
Early in the race, a Land Rover designed by researchers from the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology had a near collision and then a real
collision with
a Passat built by a team of researchers based in Braunschweig, Germany. The
German team was later pulled from the race by officials. 
 
Separately, the Oshkosh military vehicle was withdrawn after it had to be
halted just inches from colliding with a pillar. A short time later, the car
entered
by a team from the University of Central Florida ended its race by running
into an abandoned building. 
 
PHOTO: A Carnegie Mellon team, sponsored in part by G.M., competed against
35 contestants and won the top prize of $2 million. (PHOTOGRAPH BY GENERAL
MOTORS,
VIA ASSOCIATED PRESS) 
    
 
Michael Bullis, NOMC
Blind Industries and Services of Maryland
410-737-2604
email mbullis at bism.org
 
-------------- next part --------------
From today's NY Times.  Looks like we're getting close.
Mike Bullis
 
Crashes and Traffic Jams in Military Test of Robotic Vehicles By JOHN MARKOFF VICTORVILLE, Calif., Nov. 4 A Pentagon-sponsored robot race at a former Air
Force base here on Saturday revealed that computer-controlled vehicles, at least to date, have failings that are all too human.
 
The contest, called the Grand Challenge and sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or Darpa, featured both robot collisions and robot
traffic jams. Yet the event also demonstrated that the state of the art in robotics has reached the point where the most sophisticated autonomous vehicles
can now drive comfortably and safely on a city course while surrounded by traffic and other obstacles.
 
'It was a good day in robotland,' said William L. Whittaker, a Carnegie Mellon University professor who pioneered the idea of contests to help advance robot
technology during the 1980s.
 
The Chevrolet Tahoe from Mr. Whittaker's Tartan Team, sponsored by General Motors and others, won the top prize this year. Although the car finished just
minutes behind a Volkswagen-sponsored Passat designed by a group of Stanford researchers, Darpa officials spent the night reviewing the cars' performances
during three separate missions, including how well they adhered to California's driving rules.
 
On Sunday morning, they announced that the Carnegie Mellon car named Boss had won first prize ahead of Junior from Stanford and Victor Tango from Virginia
Tech.
 
The event was the third in a series of races that have been held since 2004 to help meet a Congressional directive that requires the military to replace
a third of its fleet of logistics vehicles with robots by the middle of the next decade.
 
This year's race offered three prizes of $2 million, $1 million and $500,000 for the vehicles that were best able to navigate a 60-mile course in a simulated
city in under six hours.
 
During the last week, the field of 35 invited contestants was narrowed to 11 finalists. They included several Volkswagen Passats, a Subaru, a Chevrolet
Tahoe, a Toyota Prius, a Land Rover, a Ford Escape Hybrid, and an oversize Marine Corps transport vehicle made by Oshkosh.
 
'We've been looking at the problem of protecting people on the battlefield,' said Norman Whitaker, the Darpa project manager for the event. He told the
more than 300 reporters attending the race that the vehicles, once started, would perform tasks as varied as left-hand turns across oncoming traffic and
pulling in and out of narrow parking spaces, all without human intervention.
 
'There's no animal or midget inside controlling it or anything else,' he said.
 
To the casual bystander, the stream of robots left a disquieting impression as each vehicle drove by with both drivers and passengers conspicuously absent
as steering wheels twitched back and forth.
 
'It's amazing how quickly you acclimatize to the idea of robot driving in cities,' said Michael Montemerlo, a Stanford roboticist who headed the programming
effort of the Passat that finished the course first.
 
Each vehicle is a complex ensemble of sensors and computers that are programmed to follow roads, avoid oncoming traffic, merge, pass and occasionally even
cheat on the rules to get out of difficult situations.
 
In addition to the prize money, the event, which has been held every 18 months, cost $20.5 million to produce this year. However, the organizers described
it as an economical way to bring about rapid technological progress in a field that is a military priority.
 
Mr. Whitaker also said that the program was having a Sputnik-like impact in the engineering and computer science departments of many universities, where
enrollments have jumped in response.
 
During the contest, which began at 8 a.m. Saturday, it quickly became apparent that there were disparities in the abilities of the vehicles.
 
Early in the race, a Land Rover designed by researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology had a near collision and then a real collision with
a Passat built by a team of researchers based in Braunschweig, Germany. The German team was later pulled from the race by officials.
 
Separately, the Oshkosh military vehicle was withdrawn after it had to be halted just inches from colliding with a pillar. A short time later, the car entered
by a team from the University of Central Florida ended its race by running into an abandoned building.
 
PHOTO: A Carnegie Mellon team, sponsored in part by G.M., competed against 35 contestants and won the top prize of $2 million. (PHOTOGRAPH BY GENERAL MOTORS,
VIA ASSOCIATED PRESS) 
   
 
Michael Bullis, NOMC
Blind Industries and Services of Maryland
410-737-2604
email mbullis at bism.org