DC -- Natl Museum of American History -- Exhibit: Stanley: Robot Car:
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- Description of Pictures: Robots on the Road: Stanley
November 21, 2008 – January 8, 2012
This experimental robot car named Stanley, a modified Volkswagen Touareg, offers a glimpse into the future of "smart" cars. It can drive itself without a human in the driver's seat or at remote controls; it sees the road ahead through roof-mounted laser sensors, video cameras, radar, and GPS resources and uses sophisticated computers to navigate the environment and avoid obstacles. Stanley was the winner of the 2005 Grand Challenge, sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
Stanley: Robot Car
July 1, 2006 – September 4, 2006
On view is an experimental robot named "Stanley," a modified Volkswagen Touareg that offers a glimpse into the future of "smart" cars. It can drive itself without a human in the driver's seat or at remote controls; it sees the road ahead through roof-mounted laser sensors, video cameras, radar, and GPS resources and uses sophisticated computers to navigate the environment and avoid obstacles. "Stanley" was the winner of the 2005 Grand Challenge, sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
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- SIAHST_060712_05.JPG: The DARPA Grand Challenge and the Future of Driving:
In October 2005, twenty-three robot vehicles set out on a 132-mile race near Las Vegas. They faced a ten-hour limit on a punishing dirt course with steep cliffs, sharp turns, and countless obstacles. The winner, nicknamed "Stanley," was the modified Volkswagen Touareg displayed here. Four other competitors finished the course.
Sponsored by the Defense Advance Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the race came with a $2 million prize and aimed to stimulate invention for a future fleet of driverless military vehicles. Congress funded the competition to support its directive that one-third of U.S. military ground vehicles by unmanned by 2015.
The race's experimental robots -- all sponsored by businesses, universities and individuals -- emerged from research for military purposes and demonstrated the feasibility of self-navigating vehicles.
Like the impact of integrated circuits, the Internet, and other technologies with strong military connections, the impact of the robot race is likely to be felt in other areas of American life, especially automotive safety.
Thanks to the DARPA Grand Challenge, it's easier to foresee a day when driverless cars and trucks may not only spare soldiers in battle, but also civilians on the highways -- if, that is, humans are willing to give up the driver's seat.
Stanley: Robot on the Road:
This vehicle can navigate for itself, without a human in the driver's seat or at remote controls. The robot's creators nicknamed the modified Volkswagen Touareg "Stanley."
In a brief but spectacular racing career, Stanley beat twenty-two other robot vehicles for the $2 million prize in the Grand Challenge, held last October on a demanding 132-mile desert course near Las Vegas, Nevada. The goal of the race, sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), was to stimulate invention for a future fleet of driverless military ground vehicles.
Stanley represents a promising research direction in artificial intelligence, or machine thinking. Through sophisticated programs in onboard computers, the vehicle decides how to navigate mapped terrain and unmapped obstacles in real time. It integrates a course map expressed in about 3,000 points of latitude and longitude, stored memory of past experiences, and new information about the road ahead gathered from roof-mounted laser sensors, video cameras, radar, and GPS receivers.
Behind Stanley's driverless accomplishment is the work of nearly 100 people at Stanford University and Volkswagen's Electronics Research Laboratory (ERL), both in Palo Alto, California.
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