We’ve already posted a bit about the impressive results from the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge, which tasked a bevy of robotic vehicles with autonomously navigating a 131.2 mile road course. Three vehicles managed to make it across the finish line in the time allotted for the competition, proving that full-size robotic vehicles are a tangible possibility in the near (5-10 year) future.
Now DARPA has announced the Urban Challenge, a new event that will task the next generation of robotic vehicles to (according to the DARPA news release) “safely complete a 60-mile urban area course in fewer than six hours.”
Check out more on the announcement here and also at the official DARPA Urban Challenge site. – [Jeff James]
