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HISTORY

This was the first such distance competition in the United States ; to date, there have been other competitions for semi-autonomous vehicles, but none on the scale of the Grand Challenge. The U.S. Department Of Defense has permitted DARPA to offer prize money ($1 million) to facilitate robotic development, with the ultimate goal of making one third of ground military forces automated by 2015 . Following the 2004 Event , Dr. Tony Tether , the director of DARPA, announced that the prize money had been increased to $2 million for the next event, which was claimed on October 9 , 2005 .

The competition was open to all U.S. citizens and organizations, including High School and College students, businesses and other organizations. More than 100 teams registered in the first year, bringing a wide variety of technological skills to the race. In the second year, 195 teams from 36 states and 4 foreign countries entered the race.


2004 Grand Challenge

See Also: 2004 DARPA Grand Challenge


In the 2004 DARPA Grand Challenge, none of the robot vehicles came even close to meeting the challenge. Carnegie Mellon's Red Team travelled the farthest distance, completing 7.4 miles of the course.


2005 Grand Challenge

See Also: 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge


The 2005 Grand Challenge began at 6:40am on surpassed the 7.36 mile distance completed by the best vehicle in the 2004 Race .


2007 Grand Challenge

The 2007 Grand Challenge, which is also known as the DARPA Urban Challenge, will take place on November 3 , 2007 . The course will involve a 60 mile mock Urban Area course, to be completed in fewer than 6 hours. Rules will include the obeying of Traffic Law s, and negotiation of other Traffic and obstacles. The major prizes are million for first place, ,000 for second place, and ,000 for third place. DARPA also announced that it will allow teams to submit proposals for up to US$1 Million in development funds. {Link without Title}


BASIC RULES

  • The vehicle must travel autonomously on the ground in under ten hours.

  • The vehicle must stay within the course boundaries as defined by a data file provided by DARPA.

  • The vehicle may use GPS and other public signals.

  • No control commands may be sent to the vehicle while en route.

  • The vehicle must not intentionally touch any other competing vehicle.


DARPA is conducting this challenge in association with SCORE International Off-Road Racing.


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