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Carnegie Mellon's Boss Wins DARPA Urban Challenge
Carnegie Mellon's Boss, an autonomous Chevy Tahoe, was declared the winner in DARPA's Urban Challenge contest. (Read more background on the race at DARPA Urban Challenge For Autonomous Vehicles.)
(Boss from Carnegie Mellon wins 2007 Urban Challenge)
Three robotic vehicles managed to finish the complex course set up by DARPA: first to finish was Stanford University's VW Passat, named Junior. Next to finish was Carnegie Mellon's Chevy Tahoe, Boss. A few minutes later, Virginia Tech's Ford Escape hybrid Odin crossed the line.
Scoring the race was complicated; the robotic vehicls started the race several minutes apart and each completed a different set of missions in the 60 mile race through intersections and straightways (not to mention parking!). (Take a look at some 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge Videos.)
(Boss from Carnegie Mellon crosses the 2007 Urban Challenge finish line)
Robert Heinlein's Camden speedster from his 1941 story Methuselah's Children doesn't seem impossibly futuristic now:
She ... claimed her speedy little ground car from the attending automaton in the basement, and set the control combination for North Shore. The car slid up the ramp, waited until the traffic control signaled a predicted break in traffic, then joined the high-speed northbound stream. Mary Risling settled back for a little nap...She woke just before the signal from the car which would have called her...
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 11/4/2007)
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Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
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