Hi all,
I have learned that one of our own contributors "Brian Beal"
has qualified as a "DARPA Grand Challenge Semi-Finalist"!
The press release follows;
Hey everyone,
I just thought I would make a quick mention of the fact that DSA is a sponsor to one of the remaining 40 semi-finalist teams that has developed an autonomous vehicle competing in the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge this fall http://www.darpa.mil/grandchallenge/. So far, our team has survived a series of competitive cuts that have narrowed the pack from an initial 195 entries, beating out entries from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Princeton.
The national event is sponsored by the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to encourage development of robotic, self-navigating vehicles. The semifinals are scheduled for Sept. 27 to Oct. 5 at the California Speedway, with the finals being a 140-mile race over undisclosed terrain Oct. 8 in the Mojave Desert. The twenty finalists will compete across stretches of open desert, mountain roads, hairpin turns and around oil barrels, tank traps, metal fences and solid walls. The fastest vehicle to complete the course in 10 hours or under wins the $2 million.
Our team is BJB Engineering (a small Cleveland area partnership), whose founder is employed by another key DSA client doing MEMS characterization and product manufacturing. The entry is a 1992 Isuzu Trooper, overhauled with advanced technology for complete autonomous control. It is controlled with National Instruments LabVIEW software (DSA's expertise). DSA has provided financial and consultative support in this endeavor. I will personally be working with the team on the final vehicle preparations next week.
"
By my count that means that at least two of the vehicles in this competition will be driven by LabVIEW!
Go Brian!
Ben
Message Edited by Ben on 09-09-2005 02:00 PM
