Thursday, August 9, 2007

Rocky Mountain Teams Advance In Robot Car Race

DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, said this afternoon that it has named semifinalists for the government agency's upcoming robot race, the DARPA Urban Challenge, including a number of local teams. DARPA's Urban Challenge pits fully autonomous robotic vehicles against an urban racecourse, and is intended to advance the state of self-navigating robot cars. Among the teams which made it into the semifinals are Grand Junction, Colorado's Mojavaton, Sandy, Utah-based Team Juggernaut, Littleton, Colorado-based Team Urbanator, and the team from the University of Utah. The teams will compete for a spot in the finals at a qualification race in California in October.