[tt] 3 Bots in the Winner's Circle in Robo-Race

[Brian Atkins]

(More entries in the blog at the link.)

http://blog.wired.com/defense/urban_challenge/index.html

Three autonomous vehicles crossed the finish line within the 6-hour time limit 
here at the DARPA Urban Challenge in Victorville, CA. DARPA director Tony Tether 
flagged the winning vehicles in as they completed the course two or three 
minutes apart.

First to finish the 60-mile race full of intersections, traffic, turns, parking 
challenges, and straightaways, was Stanford University's VW Passat, named 
Junior. Carnegie Mellon's Chevy Tahoe, Boss, came next, at 1:45 p.m., followed 
two or three minutes later by Virginia Tech's Ford Escape hybrid, Odin.

The bots started the race several minutes apart, and they had to complete 
different missions taking varying times, so it's not clear who will take home 
the $2 million first prize, the $1 million second-place prize, or the $500,000 
third-place prize. Judges will compare notes and score sheets, which note any 
traffic infractions and other demerits, and Tether will announce the winners 
tomorrow morning.

Still on the course are Cornell and MIT. The Ben Franklin Racing Team's Toyota 
Prius came in just now, at 2:50 p.m. As I write this, MIT's vehicle is stuck on 
a section of unpaved road, apparently uncertain whether it's safe to move forward.

Even taking into account the race's few unclocked pauses, none of which lasted 
more than a handful of minutes, it seems unlikely that Ben Franklin or either of 
the bots on the course now, can be declared a winner given the race's 6-hour 
time limit. The race started just after 8:00 a.m.

-- 
Brian Atkins
Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence
http://www.singinst.org/