DARPA has established a two-track (track A and track B) system for teams to qualify and compete in the Urban Challenge in order to help accelerate autonomous development. The track A teams will receive from DARPA up to $1 million in technology development funds. Teams must achieve key technical milestones to receive the funds. The track A teams announced today are Autonomous Solutions, Young Ward, Utah; California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, Calif.; Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pa.; Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.; The Golem Group LLC, Santa Monica, Calif., Honeywell Aerospace Advanced Technology, Minneapolis, Minn.; Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass.; Oshkosh Truck Corp., Oshkosh, Wis.; Raytheon, Tucson, Ariz.; Stanford University, Palo Alto, Calif.; and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Va.
“We received more than 60 proposals from across the U.S. and the world, representing a broad array of backgrounds and technical approaches,” said Dr. Norman Whitaker, DARPA’s Urban Challenge program manager. “We look forward to working with the track A teams and the teams that submit applications under the track B opportunity as we move towards next year’s Urban Challenge.”
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The top three teams that complete the 60-mile course in less than six hours will receive trophies.
I guess the Track A teams have their prize money up front and the Track B teams are in it for trophies and glory. This meshes nicely with the idea that I was discussing the other day that the real prize is having your name associated with a winner. Still, it doesn't feel the same to not be racing for $1 million.
EDIT: Apparently the AP thinks there's a 2 million prize for the winner.
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