In 2004, the US Department of Defense launched a single "Grand
Challenge" to the robotics community: Build a car that drives itself
from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. The "DARPA Grand Challenge" requires
an off-road vehicle to drive some 175 miles through punishing desert
terrain in less than 10 hours, and without a driver on board! In the
Fall of 2005, Stanford's School of Engineering joined 194 competing
teams to win this unique robot race. In collaboration with multiple
Bay Area companies, researchers from the Stanford Artificial
Intelligence Lab developed a whole new suite of computer programs for
autonomous driving through unrehearsed desert terrain, at speeds of up
to 35mph. This presentation provides fascinating insights into the
robot's "brains," and it also reports on the results of this historic
race.
Co-sponsored by Continuing Studies and the School of Engineering
Sebastian Thrun
Associate Professor of Computer Science and,
by courtesy, of Electrical Engineering
Sebastian Thrun is an Associate Professor of Computer Science,
Director of the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, and the
leader of the "Stanford Racing Team." Thrun received his PhD from
the University of Bonn in 1995, and spent a number of years on the
faculty of Carnegie Mellon University before coming to Stanford. He
pursues research in artificial intelligence and robotics with
enthusiasm.
Jointly sponsored by Stanford's School of Engineering.
See http://robots.stanford.edu/";>http://robots.stanford.edu/ and
http://www.grandchallenge.org/";>http://www.grandchallenge.org/