Autonomous carsNews story: Stanford robot passes driving testLast year I watched a PBS documentary on the Grand Challenge, which was sponsored by DARPA. A team from Stanford had succeeded in winning an autonomous driving challenge by overhauling a Subaru SUV with laser range finders, a GPS device, cameras, and a suite of software to allow the vehicle to navigate across hundreds of miles of rugged terrain ahead of everyone else. I was spellbound! This is an area of computer science that captivates me, and while I don't think I'll persue a masters in this area, it's tempting. I was excited to read some news coverage this week of this year's competition, which has been staged in an urban setting. Qualifications are under way, with the actual competition set for November. |