The 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge – The Great Robot Race

TLDR

The DARPA Grand Challenge, held in October 2005, was a landmark robotics race across 132 miles of rough Nevada terrain that drew academia, industry, and hobbyists and showcased unprecedented autonomous vehicle perception, navigation, and control capabilities. This book aims to provide an accessible, authoritative technical overview of the DARPA Grand Challenge by compiling fifteen papers that describe the technology behind most participating vehicles and serve as a must‑have reference for robotics students and researchers. The fifteen papers detail each team’s driverless vehicle design, race strategy, and insights into autonomous vehicle technology. Together, the collection presents the state of the art in autonomous vehicle technology and offers a glimpse of future driverless car developments.

Abstract

The DARPA Grand Challenge was a landmark in the field of robotics: a race by autonomous vehicles through 132 miles of rough, cross-country Nevada terrain that showcased exciting and unprecedented capabilities in robotic perception, navigation, and control. The event took place in October 2005, and drew teams of competitors from academia and industry, and many garage hobbyists. This book presents fifteen technical papers that are written at a level that makes them easily accessible to a broad technical audience, describing the technology behind most of the robotic vehicles that participated in this famous race. The papers describe each team's driverless vehicle, race strategy, and insights. As a whole, they present the state of the art in autonomous vehicle technology, and offer a glimpse of future technology for tomorrows driverless cars. This book will serve as an authoritative, archival source for the DARPA Grand Challenge and a must have for robotics students and researchers, since it describes the state of the art in perception, planning and control.