Media Contact:
Keith Nichols, News Services, 919/515-7159
Aug. 9, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
North Carolina State University-sponsored Insight Racing Team’s Lotus Elise, dubbed “Lone Wolf,” is one of only 36 participants from an original field of 89 invited to participate in the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Urban Challenge National Qualification Event in October. DARPA made the announcement today.
NC State’s team is the only team from the Carolinas eligible to compete, advancing on the basis of site visits that demonstrated the viability and capability of each entrant.
The Urban Challenge is the third in a series of Grand Challenge events in which driverless vehicles navigate various terrains. Qualification race winners will compete in the final race, scheduled for Nov. 3. The final will pit teams in an urban race to complete missions over 60 miles of city driving conditions. The first prize is $2 million for the vehicle that completes all of the missions in the fastest time – under six hours.
“Projects such as this DARPA Urban Challenge allow our students to take what they have learned in classes and labs and apply them to important societal challenges,” said Dr. Louis Martin-Vega, dean of the College of Engineering at NC State. “We are excited that our students have this opportunity to work on such an important and relevant project that may one day save the lives of our soldiers. We are proud of this significant achievement.”
The first two DARPA races in 2004 and 2005 featured vehicles that navigated a 130-mile course through the Mojave Desert. Although none of the vehicles completed the course in the first Grand Challenge, five teams completed the course in 2005. Insight Racing placed 12th. The races are designed to help the Department of Defense respond to a congressional mandate to convert one-third of the military vehicles to driverless computer-driven mode by 2015.
Grayson Randall, Insight Racing founder, said, “The technology developed for the Urban Challenge gives us a glimpse of how driving will change in the not-too-distant future. Smart highways will be populated with smart cars, dramatically changing how we get to travel. An outstanding team effort was needed to advance to the next phase and we got it. We have an exceptional team that is comprised of faculty and students from North Carolina State University, Lotus Engineering, Inc., sponsoring companies, members of the technical community and retired business executives who bring a vast array of experience, expertise and enthusiasm to the team.”
“As a performance engineering company, Lotus Engineering has a legacy of integrating emerging technology into breakthrough vehicles, which is exactly what this challenge is all about. I believe that Insight Racing has assembled a winning team and Lotus Engineering is proud to be part of the collaboration,” said Don Graunstadt, chief executive officer and president of Lotus Engineering.
According to Walt Sliva, adjunct lecturer in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at NC State, “Many NC State students have had the opportunity to participate in this challenging problem. It has enriched their educational experience to work on a real-world problem with so many integrated disciplines needed to succeed.”
Lone Wolf has been featured on the Discovery Channel’s Daily Planet Show and will be featured in a BBC Special called “The Future,” which is scheduled to air worldwide this fall. Last month, the Lone Wolf set an autonomous vehicle record on the full course at Virginia International Raceway.
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