DARPA Urban Challenge (broadcast Friday, November 9th, 2007)

Carnegie Mellon University's Tartan Racing took first place in the DARPA Urban Challenge for their self-driving SUV named "Boss"--a robotized 2007 Chevy Tahoe. (Credits: Video courtesy of Brian Staszel and Carnegie Mellon Tartan Racing) See More Videos

Several years ago, the U.S. military research agency DARPA challenged inventors and engineers to develop robotic vehicles that could successfully navigate a course across a portion of the Mojave Desert. No teams finished that test, called the Grand Challenge. This year, DARPA upped the ante, asking teams to design and build robotic vehicles that could be trusted to safely drive cars on city streets. Teams met last week on a former Air Force base to test their vehicles, which needed to navigate a simulated city street, obeying traffic laws while avoiding obstacles and other vehicles. We'll talk with one of the members of the winning team from Carnegie Mellon University about the recent robot road test. Teachers, find more information about using Science Friday as a classroom resource in the Kids' Connection.