The following questions and answers are provided to amplify the information contained in the Grand Challenge Rules, but the posted rules remain the sole authority for all matters associated with the administration of the Grand Challenge.
Top Ten Questions
Printer-friendly version
Q1. What is the DARPA Grand Challenge?
A1. The DARPA Grand Challenge is an event of autonomous ground vehicles between Los Angeles and Las Vegas that will be held on March 13, 2004. The team that fields a vehicle that finishes the designated route most quickly within a 10 hour time limit will be granted a cash award of $1 million.
Q2. What is the purpose of the Challenge?
A2. Congress and the Department of Defense view unmanned vehicle technology as a critical element of our future military capabilities. The Grand Challenge is a bold effort to draw widespread attention to the technological issues associated with autonomous vehicles and to generate discontinuous breakthroughs in performance. The format and requirements of the event are specifically designed to target the companies and entrepreneurs that define grassroots American ingenuity so that innovative new approaches can be found.
Q3. Who may enter the Challenge?
A3. The Challenge is open to any non-government U.S. person or entity. U.S. Federal employees, funds, and assets are excluded. Foreign persons or entities may participate in the Challenge as part of a U.S. led team. (Please see Section 3 of the rules for more information about Challenge eligibility)
Q4. How do you enter the Challenge?
A4. The only requirements to enter the Challenge are the completion of an administrative application and submission of a detailed technical paper describing the autonomous vehicle. Technical papers will be reviewed for safety, compliance with the rules, and technical legitimacy. Once the paper is approved, the team is designated as an official participant and invited to field a vehicle for the Challenge.
Q5. What will a Challenge vehicle look like?
A5. The Grand Challenge is designed to establish a desired level of autonomous performance without specifying how that performance is achieved. Leaving as much creative space for participants as possible is critical to the goal of discovering innovative new approaches. That being said, it is expected that most teams will modify existing off-road vehicles for the Challenge, although who knows what could slither or crawl across the starting line.
Q6. What does a Challenge vehicle need to do?
A6. Challenge vehicles must autonomously traverse the challenge route without human interface or control of any kind. The vehicles must perform general route selection and navigation to follow the Challenge route. Vehicles must sense their environment to perceive terrain features, ground conditions, obstacles, and other Challenge vehicles. They must intelligently control their speed and direction so as to avoid or accommodate all of the above. And they must do these things quickly- overall speed will be the deciding factor and the time limit is designed to push vehicle speeds far beyond current technologies.
Q7. What is the Grand Challenge route?
A7. The Challenge route will consist of a variety of terrain along a route between Los Angeles and Las Vegas that will not exceed 300 miles. The precise course will not be released to the teams until two hours prior to the start of the event. The route will consist of a series of waypoints and boundaries that define a corridor within which the vehicles must remain. The corridor width will vary from miles to tens of feet, and will guide the vehicles across open terrain, winding trails, and paved roads. The route will be cleared of non-Challenge traffic.
Q8. How will the Challenge be administered?
A8. Once the participants activate their Challenge vehicles on the starting line, DARPA will take responsibility for all aspects of the event administration. By deploying a comprehensive network including field judges and electronic systems, DARPA will monitor and ensure operational safety for all vehicles on the Challenge route. Monitoring of Challenge vehicle progress will be made available through designated observation points and detailed monitoring data from the Challenge Operations Center.
Q9. How many teams will participate in the Challenge?
A9. The entry period does not close until October 14, 2003, so the exact number of participating teams will not be known until that time. Due to the nature of the technological innovations required to compete in the Challenge, it is expected that only a handful of the best and brightest teams will be able to field vehicles in March of 2004.
Q10. What happens if no vehicle completes the Challenge?
A10. DARPA will run the Grand Challenge for Autonomous Ground Vehicles approximately annually until there is a winner, or until the Congressional authority to award the cash prize expires (currently in 2007).