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.