More Finalists Announced

DARPA is narrowing the field of competitors day by day. Six teams have been announced as finalists: Victor Tango, Ben Franklin (U Penn, Lehigh), Cornell, Stanford, CarOLO, and Tartan Racing (CMU). DARPA has also announced 12 teams that have been cut from the competition: Sting (Georgia Tech/ SAIC), Ody-Era, Princeton, SciAutonics, Berlin, University of Utah, Mojavation, CalTech, Jefferson, Juggernaut, Gator Nation, and Urbanator.

The Finalists: (in the same order as above)

Victor Tango Passes National Qualification!!!

Oct. 30, 2007
The call just came from the Director of DARPA, Dr. Tony Tether, that team Victor Tango has officially been admitted to the Urban Challenge Event on November 3, 2007. Its been a tough week, with endless hours of work day and night. Nerves on edge and patience running thin, the team reacts to the news with cheers and sighs of relief simultaneously.
Here is a video of the final qualification run:

First thing on the agenda, a game of hacky-sack. Second, a night of celebration and good sleep. Third, back to work.

Odin Completes Qualification Event B

Oct. 30, 2007
As a result of DARPA deciding to have all teams re-run the 3 qualification events, Odin was given a second chance to complete Event B. This is the event that Odin was unable to complete initially due to a problem with navigating a "gauntlet" of disabled vehicles.

This time around, Odin drove autonomously into victory lane! The gauntlet that had previously tripped us up, was no problem this time- due to the diligent work of the software team. There was an unexpected glitch early in the run, where Odin drove up on the curb. The team is still debugging this event to discover the source of the error.

Preparing for Second Run in Qualifying Event B

Oct. 30th, 2007
In the first round of qualifying runs, Odin was able to complete 2 of 3 qualifying events without any serious traffic violations or hiccups. The one course that Odin had trouble with was Qualifying Event B, where he was unable to finish because he got stuck in "the gauntlet", a maze of disabled vehicles. Today Odin is scheduled to run this event at 12:30pm. The team has a practice at 8:40am to verify that software modifications aimed at preventing a failure in course B are effective.

The practice run is a success. Odin runs the guantlet without a hitch. It appears the software teams hard work has paid off. We will see for sure later today.

All Teams Re-Run Qualifying Rounds

Oct. 29, 2007
DARPA has announced that all teams must run the qualifying events again, regardless of the results from the first set of runs. Victor Tango is the first team to run on site A, which aims to test merging ability. In this qualifying event, the vehicle is set up on a loop in which it must make left turns across an oncoming traffic lane, and left turns across a busy road from a stop sign. See this run in the video below:

Odin runs course A with a few traffic violations, but overall it is successful. The fairly large crowd that has gathered cheers for Odin as he exits the course. Team Victor Tango, initially considered an underdog, has begun to gain recognition for the quality of their qualifying runs. Upon the conclusion of event A, a news team from the Victorville Daily Press follows the team around. The resulting story can be read on their website at Top Story: Are Robot Cars in our Future?.
The team is very excited to have made the front page of the newspaper, as can be seen at breakfast on the next morning.

2nd and 3rd Qualifying Rounds

Oct. 28, 2007
Odin is tested on the 2nd and 3rd qualifying events, B and C. The first test of the day, event B, takes place first thing in the morning at 7:30. Quite used to the early mornings at this point (the picture to the right is taken at 5am), the team is in place well before the designated launch time. Test area B includes the most diverse set of challenges of any of the qualification events. It is designed to test Odin's ability to navigate difficult road conditions and park. Perched on a balcony, team members look on as their vehicle exits the start chute. Odin is able to finish a good portion of the course before getting stuck at "the gauntlet", a maze of disabled vehicles DARPA scatters in the road. The team is allowed to reset Odin and continue. Odin continues to run the course until time has expired. While the team was hoping to see Odin finish the course, performance-wise Odin compares very well to the competition.
The second test area of the day is run at 12:30. Known as "Area C", this test is designed to confirm that the vehicle can follow precedence at 4 way stops, and can detect road blockages and re-plan a new route accordingly. When the start horn is blown, Odin approaches his first intersection and proceeds as expected. The course circles around and brings Odin back to the same 4-way intersection repeatedly; and repeatedly Odin waits his turn to proceed through the intersection. DARPA throws the first curve ball and blocks a road that Odin expects to travel through. Just as rehearsed, Odin detects the blockage and makes a 3 point U-turn. According to unofficial sources, Odin was either the first, or one of the first, vehicles to complete this test.

Cheryl's Birthday!

Oct. 27, 2007
In the throws of qualification rounds, the team members set up a surprise birthday party for Cheryl. As our team's only female member, she is a brave soul that puts up with male shenanigans on a daily basis. She is a critical part of the team, and we wouldn't be here without her. Thanks Cheryl!!

First Qualifying Run Goes Well

Oct. 27, 2007
Saturday brings another early morning for Victor Tango. The team departs the hotel and heads into the desert well before sunrise. The vehicle must be started up and calibrated before the first qualifying run. Victor Tango is chosen to be the first of the 35 teams to be tested on Qualifying Event A. Up until 5 minutes before the test, the team will have no idea what the test will encompass. After the mission is loaded in the computers, Victor Tango must simply sit back and watch Odin, hoping that they have taught him well.

The time comes, and DARPA provides the startup team (including Pat and Steve who are illuminated in the picture) with the mission file which is quickly loaded on Odin. The vehicle is positioned at the start point and DARPA's stunt drivers begin to drive around the course as traffic. The countdown begins:

3.... 2..... 1..... "BOT IS AUTONOMOUS"

... the voice booms over the radios, and Odin jumps to a start. Just as booming as the radio voice is the heartbeat of all the team members. Odin approaches a stop sign at a T-intersection at which he must make a left turn across traffic. Coming to a complete stop and waiting as several vehicles pass, Odin appears to be doing everything perfectly. When a gap is spotted, Odin proceeds to make a safe left turn. The course continues this way for about 30 minutes with only one major hiccup causing the vehicle to stop. At one point, Odin's sensors see a phantom obstacle caused by a strip of reflective tape on the ground. Unable to get around this ghost obstacle, Odin sits patiently until he must be reset. This unlikely occurrence arises only once. Odin is able to pass the same place more than ten times without the phantom object arising.

The team is happy with the results and feels they have set the bar high. As the day progresses, this proves to be true. Directly after Victor Tango, a team comes within inches of crashing head on into a traffic vehicle. The stunt driver is able to avoid the bot through emergency maneuvers. Later on in the day an autonomous Porsche Cayenne crashes headlong into a K-rail. See the heart wrenching video on . Fortunately none of the sensors were seriously damaged, and it is expected that the vehicle will be able to continue with further qualification rounds.

The Competition

Safety Inspection and E-Stop Test

Oct. 26, 2007
Again the team has a busy morning preparing for a 9:30 practice time. However, everyone's tests today must begin with a mandatory DARPA Safety Inspection and E-Stop test. Just having experienced a failure with the E-Stop DARPA provided us, many team members are uneasy about the test.

Despite the nervousness caused by the E-Stop system, Odin passes both the Safety Inspection and E-Stop test. A news crew from Korea interviews team members of Victor Tango at the test. The rest of the 30 minute test period is used to subject Odin to further tests designed by the team. One problem that crops up is collection of dust on one of the rear sensors. Not used the the sandy desert environment, Odin has trouble with the caked on particles.

To solve the dust issue the team simultaneously seeks a software and a hardware solution. The hardware team tries multiple solutions, eventually resulting in the purchase and testing of a shop vac to be used as a blower. Before the shop vac can be successfully implemented as a dust remover, the software team is able to come up with a filter that nearly eliminates the ill effects of the dust. Anyone need a shop vac?

Never Far from Home

Oct. 25, 2007
4:30pm PST- Amidst a busy day of testing and preparation far from Lane Stadium, the team heeds the call of the Hokies. Orange and Maroon shirts fill a local Victorville bar to cheer for the boys. The Victor Tango team brings to the bar such a vigor that even the World Series takes a backseat to the football game, only being played on the smaller televisions.

With never failing dedication to the project, team members continue preparation for competition by running simulations on their laptops during commercial breaks. In our line of work, the division between work and play is often a blurry one.

A band began to play at the bar with four minutes left in the game. Immediately afterwards, things went downhill for the Hokies. Many team members are convinced this was the reason for the loss.

First Test

Oct. 25, 2007
7:00am- The team arrives in the pit to prepare the vehicles for a calibration run. Going through the same motions as we have thousands of times before, the team brings the vehicles and software online. A team meeting is called to go over the test plan, so that everyone knows their role. The alloted 30 minutes is a short amount of time to do testing in, so everything must run smoothly.

9:30am- Odin is placed within the boundaries of the practice area by team members. Everyone is evacuated from the area, and looks on anxiously from behind K-barriers. The DARPA officials flip the switch to send Odin into autonomous for the first time since leaving Virginia Tech. Odin jumps to a magnificent start spitting out dirt and gravel from behind his wheels. Twenty feet later, Odin comes to an unexpected halt and exits autonomous mode- far from what the team had hoped for. It was immediately apparent to the team that the failure was not caused by any of our systems. The source of the failure was hypothesized to be the Omnitech E-Stop, a piece of hardware required and provided by DARPA. This would not be the first time that we had experienced trouble with the Omnitech system. The Omnitech technician soon arrived and confirmed the failure. The team is forced to reschedule for a later test time.

12:30- Second test run. This time Odin is turned loose and is able to complete his first "real" autonomous run flawlessly. Team Victor Tango proceeds to test several functionalities in the alloted 30 minutes. Satisfied with all of the systems, the team returns to the pit.

Reunited with the Vehicles

Oct. 24, 2007
Up at 5:30am, the team indulges in the hotel's continental breakfast that will energize them for the first day with the vehicles at George's Air Force Base. Not sure if they are still just blurry eyed, many team members notice other hotel guests dressed rather uniquely. We are ready to chalk it up to the California way of life, when someone finds out that there is a Lacoste photo shoot based out of the hotel. Apparently the deserts of Victorville have drawn more than just autonomous vehicles this week.

The atmosphere at George's Air Force Base is electric as teams check in for the competion that they have all been working towards for the last year and a half. We are one of the first teams on site to set up our pit area. There is much work to be done to unpack the supplies and vehicles. Our pit is located between the MIT and Autonomous Solutions teams. Over the course of three hours, the Victor Tango command center is raised and populated with our vehicles and equipment.

New vehicles trickle in as the day passes, each with a unique array of instruments decorating their bumpers and roof racks. See the video below for scenes from Day 1 of the Urban Challenge grounds. Many teams experienced trouble getting their vehicles and support trailers settled in the pit areas. One team had a brake line rupture on their trailer trying to clear a curb. Carnegie Mellon, or "Tartan Racing", drew a crowd when it took over an hour to unload a single vehicle from their trailer.

No testing can be done today, just GPS alignment and hardware checks. The team finds everything has arrived in working order and expects a successful National Qualifying Event (NQE) run this coming weekend.

Team Arrives In Victorville!

Oct. 23, 2007
After a long day of travel together, and the team members perhaps getting to know each other a little too well, Victor Tango converges on the Ontario, CA airport. Thankful to be back on solid ground, Team Victor Tango proceeds to obtain a convoy of five rental mini-vans. The convoy defies high winds in the mountain passes, and eventually reaches Victorville, CA. Not so lucky were several tractor trailers that ended up on their sides on the edge of the road. In Victorville, wildfires can be spotted across the horizon and ash drops from the sky. Fortunately, Victorville is not predicted to have any evacuations caused by the fires.

The team finds out quickly that the 90 degree weather during the day does not last long. As the sun falls, the temperature drops to around 40 degrees fairly quickly. Extreme temperatures and temperature changes can have unforeseen effects on hardware. The team has tested Odin in extreme temperatures before, so there should be no problems. However, the team will be closely monitoring all aspects of the vehicle to make sure any issues are immediately detected. Tomorrow will be a busy day, checking in and getting the vehicles and pit area set up. Wish us luck.

Public Demo

Oct. 14, 2007
As the team prepares to send Odin off to California for competition, we had the opportunity to provide one last demonstration to the public. The crowd included students, faculty, regular citizens, and members of the media. Shown at the Corporate Research Center (CRC) at Virginia Tech, Odin exhibited his exceptional ability to fit into normal traffic flow seamlessly. If it wasn't for the array of sensors and flashing lights mounted to the vehicle, you would need to ask which one was autonomous. Odin even honks at vehicles that do not obey traffic rules.



As a prelude to the demonstration, the team described the various technical aspects of the vehicle that allow autonomous operation. Team member Jesse Hurdus is seen here giving the crowd a description of the way Odin "thinks".

NPR covered the event. The resulting story can be found here: http://www.wvtf.org/news_and_notes/index.php

Victor Tango Hosts Dean's Visit

Oct. 10, 2007
Dr. Benson, the Dean of the College of Engineering at VT, and Dr. Griffin, Dept. Head of Engineering Education, as well as other engineering department staff were given a tour of the Victor Tango Lab today. The lab visit not only served as an opportunity to educate, but also as an opportunity to discuss other uses for the technology. With all the advances our team is making in vehicle hardware, sensor fusion, and artificial intelligence, there are many problems that our team members could potentially help solve.

VT Class Visits Lab

Oct 8, 2007
The Victor Tango team volunteered to give a lab tour and presentation to Mechanical Engineering students at Virginia Tech. With all of the of the team members either being full time students or having strong ties to academia, the team highly values the dissemination of information. Team Victor Tango's lab, referred to jokingly as the "bot cave" by team members, is an excellent setting for learning. There are two vehicles fully outfitted for autonomous capabilities, a third vehicle in the process of being converted, and a plethora of sensors and actuators decorating the shelves.

The students were part of an Advanced Instrumentation class taught by Dr. Al Wicks. The main focus of the visit was to discuss the vehicles' sensor suites, detailing the types of transducers, signal processing techniques, and methods of sensor data fusion. There are three major sensors that the vehicle uses: Laser Range Finders (LRFs), cameras, and Global Positioning System (GPS). LRFs, or LIDAR, sensors are used mostly for obstacle detection and road contour detection (curbs and berms). These sensors send out laser beams that reflect off of surfaces and return to the sensor. By knowing the time it takes for the beam to return, the sensor can figure out within millimeters how far away the surface is. The team is taking advantage of advancements in sensor technology made by IBEO, which now provide the ability to scan in 3D and differentiate between cars, people, and static objects such as large debris and curbs. Cameras are used mostly for lane detection, similar to lane departure warning systems currently available in high end vehicles. GPS is the main method used to localize the vehicle. The GPS used by the team is far more accurate than the TomTom sitting on your dashboard. While most commercially available systems have accuracy in the vicinity of 2 meters, the team's Novatel unit can locate the vehicle within 0.1 meters of its actual latitude and longitude. By combining these sensors, in addition to a few others, Odin is able to perceive his surroundings in an incredibly accurate manner- probably better than many of the people you pass in your car on a day to day basis.

Endurance Testing

Sept 29-30, 2007
With the National Qualification Event (NQE) less than a month away, the team is working extra hard to put the finishing touches on Odin, and make final software adjustments. Once again, team Victor Tango was granted the opportunity to test at the Roanoke Police Department driver training facility. This time, it was Odin's endurance that was the subject of testing. Odin was run continuously for many hours in autonomous mode.

Up until this point, the majority of testing has been targeted at specific software components and functionalities. In theory, if all these individual tests are completed successfully, there should be no problem with running full missions that require several functionalities. However, in reality, this is rarely the case. Odin experienced some bugs that had not been seen before. Whenever a problem was encountered, the team is able to mark a time stamp associated with that error. Later the team can go back and look through all the software's messaging logs and determine the source of the error.

While the this was the first major endurance test on the vehicle, lots of endurance testing has been preformed in the team's 3D simulator. The important difference between the testing in the simulator and testing on the vehicle is the quality of the Odin's perception of the environment. The simulator cannot account for the sensor inaccuracies that are unavoidable with real testing.