‘Boss’ wins Urban Challenge
‘Boss’, developed by Carnegie Mellon University’s Tartan Racing organisation, has won DARPA’s Urban Challenge and $2million. Stanford University’s ‘Junior’won the $1m second prize, whilst Virginia Tech’s ‘Odin’ won $500,000 for coming third.
In this year’s Urban Challenge, 11 teams competed at George Air Force Base in California, where the US military trains for urban operations. Competing vehicles were required to navigate a 60 mile course in less than six hours, whilst operating entirely autonomously, obeying California traffic laws and performing manoeuvres such as merging into moving traffic, navigating roundabouts and avoiding obstacles.
“The urban setting added considerable complexity to the conditions faced by the vehicles, and was significantly more difficult than the fixed desert courses featured in the first two Grand Challenges,” said Urban Challenge program manager Dr Norman Whitaker. “Tartan Racing, Stanford Racing, and Victor Tango all did a great job getting their vehicles to navigate the course quickly and safely despite the challenging conditions.”
