Posted on 10/09/2005 1:12:15 PM PDT by aculeus
OCT. 9 3:56 P.M. ET A driverless Volkswagen won a $2 million race across the rugged Nevada desert Sunday, beating four other robot-guided vehicles that completed a Pentagon-sponsored contest aimed at making warfare safer for humans.
The race displayed major technological leaps since last year's inaugural race, when none of the self-driving vehicles crossed the finish line.
Stanley the Volkswagen, designed by Stanford University, zipped through the 132-mile Mojave Desert course in six hours and 53 minutes Saturday, using only its computer brain and sensors to navigate rough and twisting desert and mountain trails.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessweek.com ...
That's Cause VW Rocks!
I wonder how long it'll be before the Rutan groupies start insisting that Stanford University should be put in charge of the Department of Defense now. *LOL*
Stanford Racing Team's Volkswagen Touareg unmanned vehicle Stanford Roadrunner # 03, from Palo Alto, Calif. is the first vehicle to cross the finish line of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) 2005 Grand Challenge robot race sponsored by the Pentagon, Saturday, Oct. 8, 2005, in the Mojave Desert near Primm, Nev. Twenty-three robot racers raced to crisscross 132 miles of rough desert and mountain trails without a human driver or remote control. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
This sort of reminds me of the obstacles facing poor inner city black Americans. Many don't make it to the "finish line" (promise land) due to "plantation politics" but with a brain and a plan the "road map" is there via conservatism.
That's Cause VW Rocks!
If you are a weekend mechanic.
Nah, I suck with Tools, My 2000 jetta with 118,000 that has not cost me a dime tells me so.
You just know the guys
from Standford are hoping that
they can meet Lindsey . . .
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