Over the past few weeks we have been making excellent progress and we are beginning the hardware and software integration process that will allow our vehicle to perform all of the autonomous capabilities required for the April 13 Video Submission deadline.
We will be holding a demonstration of our autonomous systems on Friday, March 23. This event will be held at our testing facilities on the Forrestal Campus Annex of Princeton University. This event is open to the public, and we invite anyone who is interested to stop by. The invitation to this event can be found here.
On Friday, February 23rd, PAVE hosted a dedication ceremony to honor the recent donation of the 2005 Ford Escape Hybrid as our competition vehicle, as well as the completion of our new garage workspace. Attendees included students, faculty, staff, administration, sponsors and representatives from the local and regional media. A summary of the dedication ceremony is available though an internal press release.
On Saturday, February 24th, PAVE was a part of Princeton University’s Alumni Day program, with a presentation entitled “There’s Nobody Driving This Truck! Creation of an Autonomous Urban Vehicle: An Example of Extra-curricular Learning through Team-based Independent Research.” After the talk, attendees were invited outside for live tours and a demonstration of our new vehicle’s drive-by-wire capabilities.
PAVE would like extend a welcome and thanks to our recently acquired sponsors. These companies are now part of the growing PAVE family that shares the experience of competing in the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge. The ShockTech corporation in Monsey, NY has donated shock-isolating mounts for our rack-mounted computers. Our neighbors in Princeton Junction, NJ, Posital have helped us acquire a high-resolution optical encoder for steering feedback. Finally, the fine folks at BookSwim have agreed to join our Business team as consultants.
Recently, several members of PAVE were invited out to Pasadena, CA to visit the Urban Challenge team at Caltech. During the visit we exchanged and compared our ideas and approaches for the upcoming Challenge. This was a very positive experience for PAVE, and we would like to extend our greatest thanks to Team Caltech. We wish you all the best in the competition!
Since receiving our new competition vehicle several weeks ago, PAVE has made substantial progress in modifying it for autonomous operation. Utilizing many of the existing drive-by-wire systems in our 2005 Ford Escape Hybrid, we have so far been able to individually control the brakes, throttle and steering systems. Stay tuned for more progress reports, as we aim to have these systems integrated within a few weeks.
In addition, we have recently received some publicity. Check out this front page story from The Daily Princetonian, as well as a recent blog entry in E-Quad News.
Ford Motor Company recently agreed to donate a vehicle to Princeton Autonomous Vehicle Engineering for use in the DARPA Urban Challenge. Today PAVE took delivery of the vehicle, a 2005 Ford Escape Hybrid. Our entrant in the 2005 Grand Challenge, Prospect Eleven, was a 2005 GMC Canyon pickup truck. Since the challenge we’ve used Prospect Eleven as a testbed for our Urban Challenge work.
In the coming weeks we’ll be modifying the Escape for autonomous control, after which we’ll move our sensors and servers into it. Our deepest thanks to Ford, especially Suzanne Farran, Chris Baker, Christian Wenk, Greg Stevens, and Brad Simmons, without whose hard work and perseverance this relationship wouldn’t have been possible.
In a recent press release DARPA announced that monetary prizes for the top finishers have returned. In the Urban Challenge, the top three finishers will receive $2 million, $1 million, and $500,000 respectively. Unfortunately, the incremental milestone prizes for Track B teams have not been reinstated. We’re looking forward to the competition!
