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Computers, start your engines ~ Stanford team apparent winners in robot car race

October 9, 2005 /

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Stanford engineers steered the world toward a new era of driverless vehicles Saturday when their robotic Volkswagen SUV was the first to cross the finish line after a 132-mile race across the Nevada desert.

The Stanford car, nicknamed Stanley, unofficially edged out two robotic Hummers from Carnegie Mellon University. The three vehicles were competitors in a race sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. DARPA, which backed the early research behind the Internet, drummed up interest in the race by offering $2 million to the first team to complete the course in less than 10 hours.

Tom Abate, Chronicle Staff Writer

Full Story: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/10/09/BAGH3F4PLR1.DTL&type=tech