CMA Presents "Team Caltech: Racing to Win the DARPA Grand Challenge"

How do you get a vehicle to autonomously travel 142 miles over dirt trails, open desert, switchbacks, and water crossings to arrive safely at a particular destination in 10 hours or less? The answer could win you a grand prize of $1,000,000 from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which is sponsoring the Grand Challenge series of robotic races. The first race — Grand Challenge I — took place on March 13, 2004.

Dr. Richard Murray will discuss Caltech's Grand Challenge entry, a modified 1996 Chevy Tahoe truck nicknamed "Bob." In the March 13 race, Bob traversed approximately 1.3 miles of the course, which ran from just outside Barstow, California, to Primm, Nevada, near Las Vegas. The robotic vehicle successfully navigated around dozens of sagebrush bushes before veering off course and getting caught by a barbed-wire fence.

Although no vehicle finished the race, and the farthest distance covered by any entry was 7.4 miles, much of value was learned. Caltech undergraduates had been working since the spring of 2003 to develop Bob for this competition, aided by researchers from Caltech, JPL, Northrop Grumman, and other sponsors. Far from being discouraged, the team is ready to start preparing for Grand Challenge II, tentatively scheduled for next year.

Dr. Murray received his B.S. degree in electrical engineering with honors from Caltech in 1985 and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in the same discipline from the University of California in 1988 and 1991, respectively.

He is serving as one of the faculty advisors for Caltech's Grand Challenge entry.

This event is free. All JPL/Campus personnel and retirees are welcome.