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What is the DARPA Urban Challenge?
The
DARPA Urban Challenge is an autonomous vehicle research and
development program with the goal of developing technology
that will keep human soldiers off the battlefield and out of
harm’s way. The Urban Challenge features autonomous ground
vehicles maneuvering in a mock city environment, executing
simulated military supply missions while merging into moving
traffic, navigating traffic circles, negotiating busy
intersections, and avoiding obstacles.
The
program is conducted as a series of qualification steps
leading to a competitive final event, scheduled to take
place on November 3, 2007 in Victorville, CA. DARPA is
offering $2M for the fastest qualifying vehicle, and $1M and
$500,000 for second and third place.
TeamUCF and the Knight Rider VIP
TeamUCF
consists of faculty, staff, and students from the University
of Central Florida as well as from UCF’s industry partner,
Coleman Technologies, Inc, including CEO and president Ben
Patz. The team was formed in 2006 and has been working
steadily on its entry for the Urban Challenge, the Knight
Rider VIP (“Knight Rider” for UCF’s mascot, and VIP for
Vision, Intelligence, and Planning … the key systems on the
vehicle.) The Knight Rider VIP is a 1996 Subaru Legacy
Outback that has been modified with a steering and brake
control system, an integrated GPS/INS, a series of 7
precision SICK laser scanners, several video cameras, and a
sophisticated computer control system to drive the vehicle.
In June
2007 TeamUCF successfully demonstrated the capabilities of
the Knight Rider VIP in an on-site assessment of the vehicle
by DARPA The vehicle autonomously navigated (no human
intervention) a complex course which consisted of tight 90
degree turns, s-turns through concrete obstacles,
intersections with stop signs and other vehicles, blocked
roads, and areas requiring 3pt turns. The vehicle
successfully completed all missions.
On
August 9, 2007 TeamUCF was invited to participate in the
DARPA Urban Challenge National Qualification Event (NQE) to
be conducted October 26-31, 2007 in Victorville, California
… essentially the Urban Challenge semi-finals. The NQE
course is expected to be longer, more taxing, and consist of
several surprises. It will ben almost immediately followed
by the finals, a one day event on November 3, 2007.
Team
Members include:
Ben Patz (Team Leader – Coleman Technologies),
Don Harper (Chief Engineer), Remo Pillat (lasers and sensor
fusion), Gary Stein (vehicle SW), Dr. Yiannis Papelis (AI),
David Lyle and Andy Miller (vision).
About
Coleman Technologies, Inc..
Coleman Technologies, Inc. is an
employee owned business founded in 1995 to provide
information technology and systems engineering services
building on corporate and employee experience in aerospace
systems engineering services. The value CTI places on
engineering and problem-solving is inherent to our culture
and starts from the top down. Ben Patz, CEO for CTI, is Team
Leader for the TeamUCF DARPA initiative. |
