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!!