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All self-driving cars, actually.
Ten years ago, March 13, 2004,Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which helps to improve military technology at the U.S. Department of Defense, had a big event.
The DARPA Grand Challenge, the first race between robotic self-driving cars. (h/t to livescience.com for an amazing article about this)
15 self-driving cars trying to navigate a 142-mile (228 kilometers) course between Barstow, Calif., and Primm, Nev.
The first team to pass the qualifications and compete the course in under 10 hours would win $1 million. No one won. The best vehicle, from a Google-owned company, only got 7.5 miles.
In 2005, they had a second Grand Challenge, with 195 teams attempting a 132 mile course in southern Nevada for a top prize of $2 million. This time, there was a winner from Stanford University. In fact, 5 vehicles completed the course.
In 2007, at the third competition 6 of 11 teams in the Urban Challenge completed the course. Carnegie Mellon University won the $2 million for demonstrating that their cars could move in traffic while obeying traffic regulations.
These contests led to dramatic innovations in robotics. In self-driving cars. And in the technologies that make our lives possible. Because government, and DARPA, have a vested interest in making our country stronger. Our companies better. And our industry the best in the world.
Thanks, DARPA. These robotic cars will make our roads so much safer.
Want more Challenges? There are so many more and you can check them out on www.challenge.gov.
They include:
- The Health Resources and Services Administration is kicking off a competition to address the “word gap” that occurs for low-income children due to limited early exposure to language.
- The Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Geological Survey, with the assistance of the Department of Education, have teamed with the private sector to address nutrient pollution, continuing the work of a coalition of federal agencies and non-governmental organizations.
- The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is launching a competition for new strategies to “live off the land” when we explore new planets.
- The Department of Education aims to help more students navigate their education and career options with technologies designed for its Reach Higher Career App Challenge.
- The Bureau of Reclamation is fishing for new data tools to help protect and restore marine life ecosystems.
- The National Maritime Intelligence-Integration Office is announcing a new data prize to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing.
- NASA is launching “Startup NASA,” a new initiative to encourage the use of federally funded technologies by start-up companies.
- The National Institute of Justice is announcing the Gun Safety Technology Challenge.
- The National Park Service will launch the Centennial Memorial Challenge.