Autoline on Autoblog with John McElroy
John McElroy is host of the TV program "Autoline Detroit". Every week he'll bring his unique insights as an auto industry insider to Autoblog readers.
click above image for more live shots from DARPA by John McElroy
DARPA DEBRIEF
By John McElroy
The DARPA Urban Challenge wrapped up this past weekend and it has to be one of the most exciting automotive events I've ever attended. There was an electricity in the air. You could feel the energy. It was almost like being at a Formula One race, but with an aura of real importance to it.
I think everyone there realized we were witnessing history in the making, like going to see one of the first flights of the Wright brothers. To me, this race proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that autonomous vehicles (driverless) will be a reality in about another decade.
There have been all kinds of media reports on how Carnegie-Mellon University won the race, followed by Stanford in second and Virginia Tech in third. So rather than re-report what you probably already know, here's some background of what it was like to be there.
Follow the jump for more from John McElroy, and check out his live pics from the DARPA Urban Challenge in the gallery below.
Live Photos Copyright ©2007 John McElroy / Weblogs, Inc.
First off, it was fascinating to see who showed up. Apple co-founder Steve Wosniak was whizzing around on a Segway. Jayme Hyneman from MythBusters stood out in his black beret doing commentary on the DARPA video feed to the media. Chip Ganassi brought in one of his Target Racing NASCAR trailers to support the Carnegie Mellon University team (he's a huge Pittsburg supporter, home of CMU). Bob Casey, transportation curator for the Henry Ford Museum, was trolling through the pits hoping to convince the winning team to donate their vehicle to the museum.
And there were all kinds of automotive executives. Caterpillar's Chief Technology Officer, Tana Utley. Larry Burns, who runs R&D at General Motors. Jurgen Leohold, executive director of research at the Volkswagen Group. Carl-Thomas Neumann, president of Automotive Systems at Continental AG, the giant German auto supplier. I'm sure there were other "celebrities" in the crowd, but these are the ones I ran into. Oh yeah, I was told one of Google's co-founders was there, but I never saw which one it was.
Another thing that hit me was that the Germans came out in force. There was one small representation of Italians from Parma University, but that was it. No Japanese teams. No Korean or Chinese or French or English or Swedish or anyone else. Other than the Americans, the Germans seem to be the only ones who take this competition seriously.
It was fascinating to talk to the different teams and learn about their strategies. Stanford attacked this as a software competition. Carnegie Mellon viewed it as a systems engineering challenge. MIT figured that sensors and computing power will be cheap in the future, so threw in twice as much as everyone else. Virginia Tech took exactly the opposite tack. It figured that simpler is better. While the interiors of all the other vehicles were crammed full of sensors, buttons, wires, duct work, tie strips, roll-cage and read-outs, the VT car only had a keyboard and monitor-that was it.
Each team bemoaned the fact that this year's event was far more difficult than prior DARPA races because those didn't involve traffic, or road signs, or parking. How much more difficult? It took ten times more lines of code than before. Ten times is a lot! And that shows how quickly this technology is evolving and improving.
DARPA is really onto something by making this a race and offering millions of dollars in prize money. These competitors had a mean and hungry look in their eyes. Their pride was on the line. And as anyone who's ever been involved in motor sports knows, competition improves the breed.
Autoline Detroit
Airs every Sunday at 7:00AM on Speed and 10:30AM on Detroit Public Television
Last week's show - "Van Go"
coming soon
Autoline Detroit Podcast
Click here to subscribe in iTunes
click above image for more live shots from DARPA by John McElroy
DARPA DEBRIEF
By John McElroy
The DARPA Urban Challenge wrapped up this past weekend and it has to be one of the most exciting automotive events I've ever attended. There was an electricity in the air. You could feel the energy. It was almost like being at a Formula One race, but with an aura of real importance to it. I think everyone there realized we were witnessing history in the making, like going to see one of the first flights of the Wright brothers. To me, this race proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that autonomous vehicles (driverless) will be a reality in about another decade.
There have been all kinds of media reports on how Carnegie-Mellon University won the race, followed by Stanford in second and Virginia Tech in third. So rather than re-report what you probably already know, here's some background of what it was like to be there.
Follow the jump for more from John McElroy, and check out his live pics from the DARPA Urban Challenge in the gallery below.
Gallery: 2007 DARPA Urban Grand Challenge
Live Photos Copyright ©2007 John McElroy / Weblogs, Inc.
First off, it was fascinating to see who showed up. Apple co-founder Steve Wosniak was whizzing around on a Segway. Jayme Hyneman from MythBusters stood out in his black beret doing commentary on the DARPA video feed to the media. Chip Ganassi brought in one of his Target Racing NASCAR trailers to support the Carnegie Mellon University team (he's a huge Pittsburg supporter, home of CMU). Bob Casey, transportation curator for the Henry Ford Museum, was trolling through the pits hoping to convince the winning team to donate their vehicle to the museum.
And there were all kinds of automotive executives. Caterpillar's Chief Technology Officer, Tana Utley. Larry Burns, who runs R&D at General Motors. Jurgen Leohold, executive director of research at the Volkswagen Group. Carl-Thomas Neumann, president of Automotive Systems at Continental AG, the giant German auto supplier. I'm sure there were other "celebrities" in the crowd, but these are the ones I ran into. Oh yeah, I was told one of Google's co-founders was there, but I never saw which one it was.
Another thing that hit me was that the Germans came out in force. There was one small representation of Italians from Parma University, but that was it. No Japanese teams. No Korean or Chinese or French or English or Swedish or anyone else. Other than the Americans, the Germans seem to be the only ones who take this competition seriously.
It was fascinating to talk to the different teams and learn about their strategies. Stanford attacked this as a software competition. Carnegie Mellon viewed it as a systems engineering challenge. MIT figured that sensors and computing power will be cheap in the future, so threw in twice as much as everyone else. Virginia Tech took exactly the opposite tack. It figured that simpler is better. While the interiors of all the other vehicles were crammed full of sensors, buttons, wires, duct work, tie strips, roll-cage and read-outs, the VT car only had a keyboard and monitor-that was it.
Each team bemoaned the fact that this year's event was far more difficult than prior DARPA races because those didn't involve traffic, or road signs, or parking. How much more difficult? It took ten times more lines of code than before. Ten times is a lot! And that shows how quickly this technology is evolving and improving.
DARPA is really onto something by making this a race and offering millions of dollars in prize money. These competitors had a mean and hungry look in their eyes. Their pride was on the line. And as anyone who's ever been involved in motor sports knows, competition improves the breed.
###
Autoline Detroit
Airs every Sunday at 7:00AM on Speed and 10:30AM on Detroit Public Television
Last week's show - "Van Go"
coming soon
Autoline Detroit Podcast
Click here to subscribe in iTunes
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
cellularcoffee 2:34PM (11/08/2007)
John McElroy, you're ruining the hipness of Autoblog.
At least take away that picture of his
Reply
John Neff 2:46PM (11/08/2007)
Hahaha... first of all, I don't think any Autoblogger would ever claim to be hip, and second, John McElroy deserves a lot of respect based on his years of experience as an automotive journalist. We're lucky he thinks enough of Autoblog to appear on the site.
naggs 2:55PM (11/08/2007)
agreed, autoblog is supposed to be unsubstantiated rumor and part of the echo chamber that is the blogosphere.
this segment is borderline journalism! if blogs start having any of that then how will old media talk down to you?
i cant wait for a full special on this event. got to be one of the most impressive engineering feats of the year, certainly one of the most important. amazing that so many teams found so many ways to solve all these problems.
Reply
chris 3:20PM (11/08/2007)
I made autoblog! http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2007-darpa-urban-grand-challenge/479465/
I'm the guy in the yellow vest (far left, standing by the gate).
I actually scored vehicles during the qualifying runs on the Bravo course, the one that no one really got to see. It involved cars navigating stop signs, parking, and avoiding stationary street traffic (there were also coned gates). It was absolutely amazing watching Tartan Racing (Carnegie-Mellon) run that course. They were the second team to run it during the qualifying event and it ran flawlessly. It was actually quite the shock to see that thing on a straightaway; it hits the course speed limit immediately (20mph). Still, nothing was better than watching Terramax drag a car 20 feet (or it almost take out the dilaphidated commisary building during the actual event). Another fun bot to watch was Axion racing (yes, the Jeep with the surfboards on top). It was off road almost the entire time. I have alot of pictures that the media couldn't take.
Reply
SherbornSean 6:14PM (11/08/2007)
Too bad MIT lost. They aren't really living up to their reputation as the Carnegie Mellon of the NorthEast.
Reply