“Team Cart” at BSC Qualifies
for Entry into
’07 DARPA “Urban Challenge”

Team CART at Bluefield State College has been accepted for entrance into the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s 2007 Urban Challenge. Pictured with “Elise-Fox” (the autonomous ground vehicle designed and built by Team CART) are (front row, left-to-right) Professor Robert Riggins, John Browning, Heather Williams, team leader Bruce Mutter, John Clifton, (back row, left-to-right) Jack Howard, Leonard Lewis, Mark Myers, Justin Stiltner, Justin Nichols, with Delegate Marshall Long, and Dr. Dana Olson.

( Bluefield)—“Team CART” at Bluefield State College has just received notification that it has been accepted for entry into the Defense Applied Research Projects Agency (DARPA) 2007 Urban Challenge.  Team CART is the only West Virginia-based applicant to qualify for entry.  The Department of Defense-sponsored Urban Challenge competition is the sequel to DARPA’s 2005 “Grand Challenge,” and will again feature autonomous ground vehicles that will independently navigate through and around a variety of terrain and traffic challenges.

In all, there were 78 teams accepted into Track B of the competition, joining 11 Track A entrants.  Teams that have qualified to compete in the Urban Challenge fall under two tracks (Track A and Track B). Track-A teams were selected from proposals submitted to DARPA and will receive up to $1 million in technology development funds. Track B was an open enrollment opportunity; teams do not receive any funds from DARPA but compete equally with Track A teams to qualify for the final event.

A year ago, an autonomous ground vehicle (“Scorpion-fox”) outfitted by Team CART of BSC, working alongside Preferred Chassis Fabrication, Inc. of Tucson, Arizona, advanced through six rounds of qualifying in the DARPA event, progressing from the original field of more than 200 entrants, reaching the final 48 team level and moving to within one round of earning a spot in the Grand Challenge, a 200-mile race through a rugged desert & mountain course that tested the vehicles’ ability to independently navigate themselves through and around a variety of terrain challenges.

Team CART (Center for Applied Research and Technology) has always included Bluefield State College students from several academic disciplines, along with Dr. Robert Riggins (BSC Professor of Electrical Engineering Technology) and CART, Inc., Vice-President, Operations and team leader, Bruce Mutter.  “This time around, our vehicle is named the “Elise fox” and is built around Lotus car platforms by a team composed of College faculty, local research associates, and industrial engineers, students and alumni, and international consultant expertise from the automotive and image processing communities,” Mutter said.

The 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge will take place in a yet to be disclosed urban setting in the western United States, adding another dimension to the event.  “We’re certainly excited about the opportunities presented by the Urban Challenge and our chances in meeting it,” noted Mutter.  “At the Grand Challenge, we lacked the financial resources of many DARPA teams, but we were able to combine ingenuity and creativity to more than hold our own with the best industrial and academic organizations in the competition.  In fact, the Scorpion-based project legacy continues on under Track A.  Additionally, the Grand Challenge was an inspiring ‘real world’ applied research experience for our students and helped them visualize the limitless potential for their future careers in engineering technology.”

The Urban Challenge will present a highly complex and demanding trial that will put this field of robotic vehicles to the test, according to event organizers.  The Urban Challenge will feature fully autonomous ground vehicles conducting simulated military supply missions safely and effectively in a mock urban area. In the final event, on November 3, 2007, at an undisclosed location in the western U.S., robotic vehicles will attempt to complete a 60-mile course through traffic in less than six hours, operating under their own computer-based control. To succeed, vehicles must obey traffic laws while merging into moving traffic, navigating traffic circles, negotiating busy intersections, and avoiding obstacles.

DARPA’s Urban Challenge has been successful in attracting enthusiasts from around the world to develop autonomous vehicle technology that will some day protect the lives of American men and women on the battlefield. Operation of autonomous vehicles in the Urban Challenge will test the ability of robots to operate safely and effectively in populated areas.

October 20, 2006

School of Engineering Technology & Computer Science Website