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!
We’ve been hard at work for the Urban Challenge, and all the teams are making progress by leaps and bounds. This past Saturday PAVE was featured by the Society for Women Engineers, at a colloquium for high-school girls who are interested in pursuing careers in science and engineering.
We are very excited to announce two new partners we’ll have in the Urban Challenge! Texas Instruments is a world leader in the DSP industry. Valde Systems creates hi-performance DSP hardware for machine vision solutions. Our partnerships with TI and Valde will be invaluable to our Urban challenge efforts.
DARPA received applications from 78 teams for Track B, including PAVE, bringing the total number of entrants in the Urban Challenge to 89. Though the pool is slightly smaller than for the 2005 Grand Challenge, we look forward to the same intense competition and outstanding designs. Best of luck!
DARPA has selected eleven teams to receive grants of up to $1M and compete in Track A of the Urban Challenge. In addition, Congress voted not to extend DARPA’s prize authority, so the winners of the Urban Challenge will instead receive ceremonial trophies.
PAVE will be competing in the Urban Challenge on Track B. We will have to go through the same multi-step qualification process as the Track A teams, but will not compete directly with them until the Final Event. The application deadline for Track B is October 13th. We are very curious to see what effect the lack of prize money will have on the number of teams that enter.
Congratulations to all of the Track A teams and best of luck – PAVE will see you at the start line!
Princeton Autonomous Vehicle Engineering will be hosting a kickoff meeting for the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge. If you are interested, stop by Friend 004 on Sunday, September 24 at 2pm to learn more and get involved!
Wednesday, September 13
9:30–10:30am. “Prospect Eleven: the making and running of Princeton’s undergrad entry in the DARPA Grand Challenge†Friend Auditorium, 101.
The Princeton Autonomous Vehicle Engineering team will be presenting its work for the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge to Princeton’s incoming freshmen engineers from 9:30-10:30am on Wednesday, September 13 in Friend Auditorium 101. Though the annual School of Engineering and Applied Sciences orientation week lecture is traditionally given by a member of the faculty, PAVE has been asked to deliver it this year. We’ll discuss the old challenge, our technical approach, the new Urban Challenge, and have Prospect Eleven parked outside for all to see (and if Public Safety’ll let us get away with it, a demonstration).
PAVE was a finalist at the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge, and has since been focusing on refining the systems it developed for the competition. We’re excited to announce that we’ll be competing in the upcoming DARPA Urban Challenge!
As part of our new effort, we’ve developed a new website to promote awareness of our work. We’ve worked hard to fill the site with lots of content about the team, our sponsors, and, of course, our current autonomous vehicle, Prospect Eleven.
At present a team of undergraduates is on Princeton’s campus developing software and tools for PAVE’s participation in the Urban Challenge. PAVE is actively seeking sponsors for the coming competition. Please contact us if you’d like to become involved!
