Autonomous vehicles to race L.A. to Las Vegas

DARPA web site ^ | September 9, 2002 | DARPA

[Lokibob]

DARPA intends to conduct a race of autonomous ground vehicles from the vicinity of Los Angeles to Las Vegas in 2004. A cash prize will be awarded to the winner. The purpose of the race is to encourage the accelerated development of autonomous vehicle technologies that could be applied to military requirements.

[Lokibob]

 

 

 

 

DARPA intends to conduct a race of autonomous ground vehicles from the vicinity of Los Angeles to Las Vegas in 2004. A cash prize will be awarded to the winner. The purpose of the race is to encourage the accelerated development of autonomous vehicle technologies that could be applied to military requirements.

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Vehicles

Vehicles must be unmanned (no humans or other biological entities onboard) and autonomous.  They must not be remotely driven.  

Only single independent, untethered ground vehicles are eligible.  No sub-vehicles will be allowed.  All computing and intelligence must be contained onboard.  Apart from the emergency stop feature (see Safety), automatic communication with autonomous equipment at the checkpoints (see Checkpoints) and GPS signals, no external communication is allowed.
 
There is no size, weight, or propulsion limit on the ground vehicle; the nature of the course will dictate practical limits.  

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The race will be held on February 28, 2004.

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Other details are on the web site.  First prize is $1,000,000.

[Objectivism USA]

Bomb plot foiled in Colombia - Authorities find five cars packed with explosives
Houston Chronicle ^ | December 12, 2002 | Reuters News Service
Posted on 12/12/2002 1:35 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife

"The cars, each packed with at least 550 pounds of explosives, were rigged with remote control devices that would allow the bombers to guide the vehicles to targets, which, the police said, included their headquarters and a bus station."
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/805150/posts

[Asclepius]

The military already has autonomous vehicles. They call them marines. They're dumb as rocks, but they can fight like grim death in conditions as hostile as the surface of the moon.

[avg_freeper]

Cool! This is like the great sea plane races from 1910 - 1940 that drove the aviation industry.

[Drango]

All computing and intelligence must be contained onboard.

Dang...that leaves out the Greyhound bus driver...

[Lokibob]

These are not remote controlled. They drive themselves without any human intervention. Use GPS signals and onboard computers.

[dead]

Vehicles must be unmanned (no humans or other biological entities onboard) and autonomous.

Gore's gonna drive one.

[Nick Danger]

[Objectivism USA]

They would then make an even better terrorist weapon.

[dalereed]

Ths Reno to Vegas race is more exciting, if you can't exceed 200 mph you run dead last!

[Willie Green]

Vehicles must be unmanned (no humans or other biological entities onboard) and autonomous.

The official Administration position is that such vehicles already exist.

Bush opens border to Mexican trucks.
Las Vegas among top destinations for Hispanic immigrants

[DannyTN]

Brilliant.

The faster we can turn all cars to autonomous driving, the faster we save billions in productivity and medical costs, not to mention lawsuits and insurance.

This can advance both military and the domestic economy.

We need more support of technologies like this.

[Lokibob]

A convoy of Autonomus vehicles could resupply a combat unit in the field without any risk to the G.I..

An Autonomous vehicle could lead a convoy as a mine sweeper.

An Autonomous vehicle could be a decoy to bring out the bad guys for total destruction.

Any other thoughts as to the applications?

[dalereed]

concrete reinforcing bar (rebar)

In the United States, the size designations of these mild steel bars used to reinforce concrete are set by the ASTM.1 Distributors usually stock rebar in 60 foot lengths.

Most bars are “deformed,” that is, a pattern is rolled onto them which helps the concrete get a grip on the bar. The patterns are not specified. Plain bars are also made, but are used only in special situations in which the bars are expected to slide (for example, crossing expansion joints in highway pavement).

The size designations are based, at least through #8 bar, on the diameter in eighths of an inch of a plain round bar having the same weight per foot as the deformed bar.

Specifications require that the producer roll into the bar:

1. A letter or symbol identifying the mill that produced the bar.

2. The bar size.

3. A symbol indicating the type of steel. for example, means the bar was rolled from a new billet.

4. If the bar is grade 60, a mark indicating it is grade 60. Two styles of marking the grade are used.

In the continuous-line system, grade 60 bars have a line running the length of the bar; grades 40 and 50 do not.
In the number system, the number ”60“ is actually rolled onto the bar, below the mark for the type of steel.
Bar size Weight in pounds per foot nominal diameter in inches (not including the deformations
#3 0.376 0.375, that is, 3/8
#4 0.668 0.500, that is, 4/8
#5 1.043 0.625
#6 1.502 0.750, that is, 6/8
#7 2.044 0.875
#8 2.670 1.000, that is, 8/8
#9 3.400 1.128
#10 4.303 1.270
#11 5.313 1.410
#14 7.650 1.693
#18 13.60 2.257



1. The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) issues a series of specifications for rebar:

A615: Standard Specification for Deformed and Plain Billet-Steel Bars for Concrete Reinforcement. (covers grades 40 and 60)

A616: Standard Specification for Rail-Steel Deformed Bars for Concrete Reinforcement. (Covers grades 50 and 60).

A617: Standard Specification for Axle-Steel Deformed Bars for Concrete Reinforcement. (covers grades 40 and 60)

A706: Standard Specification for Low-Alloy-Steel Deformed Bars for Concrete Reinforcement. (grade 60 only)

[Bush2000]

Uh oh. SkyNet lives. Better get a German shepherd. And a laser pulse rifle. The cyborgs are coming... ;-p

[Drango]

So dalereed, what kind of weed you been doin'?

[Objectivism USA]

Combine it with Nano-technology and make it as small as a bug then give it a specific DNA to find and assassinate bin Laden or his ilk.

[discostu]

I will be the last person in America to switch to autonomous cars. Being a passenger sucks, driving is fun. That and being in software QA I know better than to trust computers with anything.

[pabianice]

"Hey, Martha! There's a f*****g car in the shower and it's ... oh, crap!

[Lokibob]

That is why the Space Shuttle has 5 computers. Three of the 5 have to agree on a decision before it is done.