What is the DARPA Grand Challenge?
Created in response to a Congressional and DoD mandate, DARPA Grand Challenge is a field test to accelerate research and development in autonomous ground vehicles that will help save American lives on the battlefield. The Grand Challenge brings together individuals and organizations from industry, the R&D community, government, the armed services, academia, students, backyard inventors, and automotive enthusiasts in the pursuit of a technological challenge DARPA’s mission is to leverage ingenuity and research to develop transformational technologies that give our armed forces a decisive edge. One promising area is that of autonomous ground vehicles which will save lives by performing many of the hazardous battlefield functions that currently place our troops in harm’s way. The first Grand Challenge was held in the Mojave Desert in March 2004, but there was no winner. The second Grand Challenge was held in Primm, NV on October 8, 2005, and the Stanford Racing Team won the $2 million pri
