Date:         Mon, 10 Oct 2005 07:38:06 -0500
Reply-To:     Larry Alofs <lalofs@RCN.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Larry Alofs <lalofs@RCN.COM>
Subject:      Touareg wins Grand Challenge (NVC)
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  `Stanley' wins $2 million robot race

By Alicia Chang
Associated Press
Published October 10, 2005

PRIMM, Nev. -- A driverless Volkswagen won a $2 million race across the
rugged Nevada desert Sunday, beating four other robot-guided vehicles
that completed a Pentagon-sponsored contest aimed at making warfare
safer for humans.

The race displayed major technological leaps since last year's inaugural
race, in which none of the self-driving vehicles crossed the finish line.

Stanley the VW Touareg, designed by Stanford University, zipped through
the 132-mile Mojave Desert course in six hours and 53 minutes Saturday,
using only its computer brain and sensors to navigate rough and twisting
desert and mountain trails.

The Stanford team celebrated by popping champagne and pouring it over
the mud-covered Stanley.

"This car, to me, is really a piece of history," Stanford computer
scientist Sebastian Thrun said after receiving an oversized check for
the $2 million prize, funded by taxpayers. He said he did not know how
he would spend the money, but joked that he needed to buy cat food.

Stanford spent $500,000 on the race, some of which was provided by sponsors.

In second place was a red Humvee from Carnegie Mellon University called
Sandstorm, followed by a customized Hummer called H1ghlander. Coming in
fourth was a Ford Escape Hybrid named Kat-5, designed by students in
Metairie, La., who lost about a week of practice and some of whom lost
homes when Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast.

The Humvee, which finished in seven hours and four minutes, traveled
farther than any other vehicle last year despite completing only 71/2
miles of the course.

A fifth vehicle, a 16-ton truck named TerraMax, was the last to finish
the course Sunday, though not within the contest's 10-hour deadline. Its
operators paused it Saturday night so it wouldn't have to race in darkness.

It's unclear how the Pentagon plans to harness the technology used in
the race for military applications. But Thrun said he wanted to design
automated systems to make next-generation cars safer for everyone, not
just the military.

"If it was only for the military, I wouldn't be here today," Thrun said.

Called the Grand Challenge, the race began Saturday with a field of 23
autonomous vehicles. Eighteen failed to complete the course because of
mechanical failures or sensor problems. Even so, most covered more
distance than Sandstorm did last year.