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Future Cars

Future Car News

  

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Future Car DARPA Challenge

Urban Challenge 2007

Driverless Race

TARTAN RACING WINS $2 MILLION PRIZE FOR DARPA URBAN CHALLENGE

Stanford Racing Wins $1 Million Second Prize, Victor Tango Wins $500,000 Third

 

(Victorville, Calif.) – Tartan Racing’s “Boss” of Pittsburgh, Penn. turned in the top performance in the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Urban Challenge and won the $2 million cash prize as the competition’s first-place winner, DARPA announced today.  Stanford Racing’s “Junior” of Stanford, Calif., won the $1 million second place prize, while Victor Tango’s “Odin” of Blacksburg, Va., received $500,000 for finishing third.

 

The Urban Challenge prize winners competed as part of a field of 11 finalists that was selected from 35 semifinalists that competed in the National Qualification Event (NQE) prior to the final event.  Semifinalists were selected from the original field of 89 competitors.  The NQE and the main event took place October 26 to November 3 at the former George Air Force Base in Victorville, Calif., that is used by the U.S. military to train for urban operations.  The network of roads on the site effectively simulated the type of terrain American forces operate in when deployed overseas.

 

            Vehicles that competed in the Urban Challenge were required to operate entirely autonomously, without human intervention, as they obeyed California traffic laws and performed maneuvers such as merging into moving traffic, navigating traffic circles and avoiding obstacles. The vehicles had to think like human drivers and continually make split-second decisions to avoid moving vehicles, merge into traffic and safely pass through intersections.  Demonstrating safe operation in an urban situation was an effective and consolidated method of testing situations the vehicles might face even while conducting missions in less populated areas.

 

            “The urban setting added considerable complexity to the conditions faced by the vehicles, and was significantly more difficult than the fixed desert courses featured in the first two Grand Challenges,” added Urban Challenge Program Manager Dr. Norman Whitaker.  “Tartan Racing, Stanford Racing, and Victor Tango all did a great job getting their vehicles to navigate the course quickly and safely despite the challenging conditions.”

The Stanford Racing Team made history in 2005 as it won the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's Grand Challenge to be the first ever to complete the challenge to build a totally autonomous vehicle.  "Stanley" - Stanford's  robotic VW traversed 132 miles of desert southwest of Las Vegas October 8, 2005 with the quickest time, 6:53:58.  In the first Grand Challenge no vehicle finished.   That year  four other cars of the 23 that ran finished.  Carnegie Mellon's Team took 2nd and 3rd with it's "Standstorm" Humvee (VIDEO), followed by "H1ghlander" (VIDEO). 

 

 

 

Future Cars

Articles, Links

 

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Future Fuels Now

What's a Hybrid Electric?

Toyota Hybrid System

Commuting Without Pollution

EV World 

GM's EV-1 Electric Car

Electric Auto Association

 

    Biodiesel
    Electric

    Ethanol
    Hydrogen
    Methanol
    Natural Gas
(CNG/LNG)
    Propane
(LPG)
    P-Series
   
Solar Fuel

  Greener Cars

  Alternative Fuels Data Center 

   Popular Mechanics     Compares Future Fuels

Future Cars Now  

 Can A Car Drive Itself?    Video From CNET

 Cadillac Night Vision 

Stop Dozing Drivers

"Bug-robots" Steering Cars?    From New Scientist

Smart Seat Belts

 

Future Highways

   Smart Highways

   DOT's ITS

   ITS America

 

Government Sites for Future Cars

Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles           

 U.S. Council for Automotive Research

ZEV & LEV - Zero/Low Emission Vehicle Program - California

 

 

 

 Build a  Fuel Cell Car

      

 

Future Car Issues

"Car of the Future," by Josephine Cooper, President and CEO of the Alliance of Automotive Manufacturers.

Smart Cars May Distract Drivers

Advanced Vehicle Technologies: Energy, Environment, & Development Issues (PDF)
A U.S. Congressional Research Service report examines electric, hybrid electric, and fuel cell vehicles in terms of cost, fueling and maintenance infrastructure, and performance. The report also reviews key advanced vehicle technologies legislation in the 108th United States Congress, as well as federal, state, and local activity relevant to these technologie
s.

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GM's Future Car

The Volt will still have an on-board gasoline/E85 combustion engine. Only in the Volt, this engine is the smaller one, and has only one task, it charges the battery pack when the stored power gets low. The motor is not connected to the wheels, it is only a generator. The brilliance of this feature is that you will have an overall driving range of 600-700 miles, greater than most gas cars now. The efficiency of this motor amounts to about 50 mpg, for each gallon you use to charge the batteries. The old EV-1 did not have this function.  All the technology for the car is here today, except for the battery pack. It will use lithium-ion (li-ion) technology. Current hybrids use nickel-metal hydride (NiMh), which carry much less energy per unit weight. To get the power needed for the Volt they would weigh nearly a ton. There are companies working with GM and trying to get these Li-ion batteries and their packs ready for automotive use.

For more detailed vehicle specifications, click here.

 

Electronics Driving Auto Changes

  California Fuel Cell Partnership 

 Future Tires

Gecko Grip on Future Tires?

 

Read about it HERE

Future Tires?  Video, article from NBC Nightly News includes track testing.

 
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