DARPA's Urban Challenge ends: six cars cross the line, CMU takes 1st place
DARPA's Urban Challenge has finished, with six of the eleven cars making it across the finishing line. Cars from Stanford, Carnegie Mellon, and Virginia Tech were the "winners," taking less than the six hour maximum to complete the 60 mile course which involved avoiding obstacles and fifty cars with human drivers. The overall winner of the $2 million prize has yet to be announced, although were guessing it'll be one of the latter three teams rather than the eight other cars that completed the course. Despite the significant collision potential, there was only one minor fender bender (which didn't even stop the two cars.) That's a far better showing than the first ever "Desert" Challenge in 2004 where not a single car finished. Since then the number of cars completing has only increased, and with it, the potential for cars that can drive themselves.
UPDATE: Carnegie Mellon won the $2 Million, with Stanford finishing second for $1 Million, and Virginia Tech third for $500,000.
