Team Banzai takes up the Grand Challenge
Sep 01, 2004 - Team Banzai announced today that it will enter the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge race for autonomous ground vehicles in an attempt to win $2 million. The initiative, known as the DARPA Grand Challenge, is a field test of fully autonomous ground vehicles to be conducted in the Mojave Desert on October 8, 2005. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), is offering a $2 million prize to the vehicle that completes the course the fastest within a 10-hour period.
Dr. John Choi, team leader for Team Banzai, said: "Someday, robotics technology will allow us to accomplish missions that now threaten our fighting forces. We are thrilled to have a chance to contribute to this effort – and to develop innovations of our own that could help us win the prize."
Dr. John Choi added: "We have an exceptional team that is comprised of PhD.'s and engineers highly motivated to win this race. Since announcing it will compete in the DARPA Grand Challenge, Team Banzai has been hard at work designing a vehicle that can travel with no human assistance over the course’s rugged terrain."
DARPA’s mission is to pursue R&D in technology areas in which the payoff is very high and where success may provide dramatic advances in military capabilities. The 2005 event will be the second DARPA Grand Challenge. On March 13, 2004, 15 robotic vehicles attempted to navigate a challenging 142-mile route through the desert Southwest.
Ron Kurjanowicz, DARPA’s program manager for DARPA Grand Challenge 2005, explained: "We were so encouraged by the promise and the progress of the first Grand Challenge, that we have decided to conduct the event again." Kurjanowicz added: "The energy – and the sense of pride in our nation’s heritage of innovation, risk-sharing, and team spirit – is contagious. Excitement is already building for next year’s event."
