2004–2005Reputable source · 2 sourcesWell documented
The DARPA Grand Challenge and the Self-Driving Car
On the timeline · around 2004–2005 ·
What happened
At dawn on 13 March 2004, fifteen robotic vehicles set off across the Mojave Desert in the DARPA Grand Challenge, a U.S. defence contest to build a car that could drive itself over 142 miles of open terrain. None finished — the best managed about seven miles. Eighteen months later, in 2005, Stanford's 'Stanley,' a modified Volkswagen Touareg led by Sebastian Thrun, completed a 132-mile course to win the $2 million prize.
Why it matters
The Grand Challenges jump-started the modern self-driving car. The teams and technologies they spawned went on to found the autonomous-vehicle industry; Stanley now sits in the Smithsonian.
Sources
- Smithsonian Magazine. How a Blue SUV Named Stanley Revolutionized Driverless Car Technology · Reputable source
- DARPA. The DARPA Grand Challenge: Ten Years Later · Reputable source