Buckeyes Qualify for DARPA Challenge

For the third time, the Ohio State College of Engineering has qualified for a U.S. Department of Defense autonomous vehicle competition. The OSU-Autonomous City Transport team is among 89 competitors in the Urban Challenge hosted by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

The Urban Challenge will feature fully autonomous ground vehicles conducting simulated military supply missions safely and effectively in a mock urban area. In the final event, on Nov. 3, 2007, at an undisclosed location in the western United States, robotic vehicles will attempt to complete a 60-mile course through traffic in less than six hours, operating under their own computer-based control. To succeed, vehicles must obey traffic laws while merging into moving traffic, navigating traffic circles, negotiating busy intersections and avoiding obstacles.

Research universities and engineering schools, automobile manufacturers and suppliers, and defense contractors are among the represented sectors in the 2007 field. Also notable is the field’s strong international flavor, including representation from Australia, Austria, China, France, Germany, New Zealand and Mexico. During the next several months, teams must prepare technical papers and continue vehicle preparations for the preliminary competitions; semifinalists will be announced Aug. 10, 2007.

In March 2004, DARPA conducted a Grand Challenge for fully autonomous ground vehicles through a desert course between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Ohio State supported an Oshkosh Truck vehicle called TerraMax. None of the teams completed the course, but TerraMax went the sixth farthest of the dozen finalists. In DARPA’s second Grand Challenge, in October 2005, the Ohio State College of Engineering team finished in 10th place. The Desert Buckeyes’ ION vehicle traveled 29 miles of the 131.6-mile Mojave Desert course near Primm, Nev. It successfully negotiated obstacles and a series of narrow roads and sharp turns.

DARPA is the central research and development organization for the Department of Defense. The Agency manages and directs basic and applied research and development projects for the department and pursues research and technology that provide dramatic advances in support of military missions.

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Editors: For information about the DARPA Grand Challenge, visit www.darpa.mil/GrandChallenge. For details about the OSU-ACT team, visit its Web site at www.ece.osu.edu/osuact or contact professor Umit Ozguner, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, (614) 292-5940 or umit@ece.osu.edu.

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