The DARPA Urban Challenge is an autonomous vehicle research and development program with the goal of developing technology that will keep warfighters off the battlefield and out of harm's way. The Urban Challenge features autonomous ground vehicles manoeuvring in a mock city environment, executing simulated military supply missions while merging into moving traffic, navigating traffic circles, negotiating busy intersections, and avoiding obstacles. This program is an outgrowth of two previous DARPA Grand Challenge autonomous vehicle competitions.
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, California. DARPA is offering $2M for the fastest qualifying vehicle, and $1M and $500,000 for second and third place.
Teams from around the world were whittled down through a series of qualifying steps, beginning with technical papers and videos, then advancing to actual vehicle testing at team sites. Of the 89 teams to initially apply, 35 teams were invited to the National Qualification Event (NQE), a rigorous eight-day vehicle testing period. The NQE was co-located with the Final Event in Victorville, CA. DARPA transformed the roads of the former George AFB into an autonomous vehicle testing ground, laying over four miles of protective k-rail barriers in creating multiple test courses.
An autonomous ground vehicle is a vehicle that navigates and drives entirely on its own with no human driver and no remote control. Through the use of various sensors and positioning systems, the vehicle determines all the characteristics of its environment required to enable it to carry out the task it has been assigned.
The NQE for the Urban Challenge was divided into three separate test areas, each with its own flavor and set of challenges:
The course for the final event was communicated to the teams in the form of two files, analogous to a map and a specific mission. Upon announcing the finalist selections on November 1, teams were given the 'map' file of the final course (Route Network Definition File). However, each team didn't receive their Mission Definition File, which lists the order of checkpoints they had to visit, until five minutes before they launched on race day. With this approach, the teams had no a priori knowledge of their missions, creating a truly autonomous driving test.
This event was not just a timed race however - robots were also being judged on their ability to follow California driving rules. DARPA officials pored through reams of data throughout the night, analyzing each team's infractions and elapsed run times.
At the awards ceremony the next morning, DARPA announced the winning order.
Urban Challenge 2007
The DARPA Urban Challenge was held on November 3, 2007, at the former George AFB in Victorville, Calif. Building on the success of the 2004 and 2005 Grand Challenges, this event required teams to build an autonomous vehicle capable of driving in traffic, performing complex manoeuvres such as merging, passing, parking and negotiating intersections. This event was truly groundbreaking as the first time autonomous vehicles have interacted with both manned and unmanned vehicle traffic in an urban environment. The winning order was: Tartan Racing (Pittsburgh, PA), Stanford Racing Team (Stanford, CA), Victor Tango (Blacksburg, VA).
The road surface will range in quality from new pavement to potholes and broken pavement. Sections of dirt roads with low berms may also be encountered. The vehicle may negotiate sharp curbs, downed branches, traffic barrels, drains, hydrants, rocks, brush, construction equipment, concrete safety rails, power line poles, and other stationary items likely to be found in an urban environment. Vehicles will obey traffic laws as they negotiate traffic circles, intersections, and merge with moving traffic. Traffic on the route may be provided by manned vehicles, tele-operated vehicles, and other autonomous vehicles. Static vehicles may also be parked or stopped along the route.