Stanford’s New Robotic Audi TTS Knows How To Drift, Will Tackle Pikes Peak Next Year
Writing by Evan Ackerman on Saturday, 24 of October , 2009 at 10:01 am
BotJunkie was invited to Stanford on Thursday for a sneak peak at their latest robot car, from the family that includes Stanley and Junior. It’s an Audi TTS that’s been modified with sensors, GPS guidance, and a trunkfull of computers, but it’s not intended to drive you to work in the morning… It’s actually a race car, designed to push the limits of driving performance. Already, this TTS holds the unofficial world speed record for an autonomous car at 130 kph (edit- they meant to say 130 mph, which is a lot more impressive), but it’s capable of a whole lot more. Basically, Stanford is figuring out how close to the edge of control a car can be driven, and then they’re going to program their Audi to drive on that edge. They’ve set themselves a challenge of racing to the top of Pikes Peak sometime next year:
So what’s the point of all this besides being totally awesome? Simple: knowing how to drive a car to the limit gives you more options when it comes to things like accident avoidance. Most human drivers aren’t experienced enough (or have a fast enough reaction time) to take advantage of all of the potential escape routes that may be available when an accident is imminent, and research like this has the potential to teach intelligent cars how to save some of the 40,000 lives that are lost due to auto accidents every year.
We’ll have more for you early next week, after a demonstration of Stanford’s new car this weekend.
UPDATE: The car’s name is Shelley, after Mich├¿le Mouton, the most successful female rally driver ever and the first woman to win the Pikes Peak Hillclimb. She did it in an Audi, of course.
Comments (9)
Category: Artificial Intelligence, Research
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Comment by Ironman
Made Saturday, 24 of October , 2009 at 1:47 pm
They should put Titan in this, and then it would just be badass robot of the century
Comment by ArtHax0r
Made Sunday, 25 of October , 2009 at 7:03 am
That looks like my car, but I use gumstix and the glove box rather than the trunk and some dells!
Comment by RED
Made Monday, 26 of October , 2009 at 3:10 am
The car actually did 130 MPH… (!)
Comment by Mick
Made Monday, 26 of October , 2009 at 9:20 am
The car did 130mph (actually more than 130mph), not 130 kph.
Comment by cw
Made Monday, 26 of October , 2009 at 4:43 pm
1. Didn’t realize how much Audi was supporting the Stanford team (considering VAIL is heavily involved).
2. Thought this was a bunch of students, but having a corporate polished commerical sounds, well corporate, hence the VAIL logo at the end pretty much says who’s really doing the work.
3. Was that freaking Java code a couple seconds into the video? Java powering robotics?
Comment by Joe
Made Monday, 26 of October , 2009 at 4:52 pm
Are there any *actual* specs on that car? This is a fluff piece with, about a car that is really nothing special except for its looks. Any autonomous driving system built in the past half decade could drive that an Audi TTS flat out in a desert like they did (just like a brick on the accelerator could). This includes the great systems Stanford itself has put together for the 2005 and 2007 DARPA grand challenges.
The only thing special here is that they are mounting there gear in a sexy automobile. The gear also looks limited to GPS and INS systems, no real sensors (like LIDAR or cameras) that are required to actually drive autonomously and not crash into things. That is, unless they intend to do the hill climb blind.
That said, I can’t wait to see some video of robot driving at the limit on a course with some boundaries, so we can really see what its capable of.
Comment by Evan Ackerman
Made Monday, 26 of October , 2009 at 6:33 pm
@Joe
The car includes a precision GPS system, an extremely sensitive military IMU, and some sensors on at least one of the wheels to help monitor slip. You are correct that currently the car doesn’t implement any obstacle avoidance sensors, and as a member of the Stanford team told me, at this point it would just “plow through” anything in its path.
Remember that the point of this car is to test the limits of autonomous driving. Other platforms, like Stanley and Junior, are designed to test other aspects of autonomy, like obstacle avoidance. I’m not sure whether the Audi will end up doing the hill climb blind, but if it does, it would still be able to complete all of its objectives, which basically involve driving as fast as inhumanly possible without losing control of the car.
@cw
Audi is part of Volkswagen Group. The VAIL is a Stanford lab, where Stanford students will be doing research. It’s sponsored by Volkswagen, and there will be lots of opportunities for Stanford to work closely with Volkswagen engineers, but it’s still a part of the university… It’s true, though, that Volkswagen has a vested interest in the technology that comes out of the VAIL. For example, I’m pretty sure that the lane departure sensors that Volkswagen offers on some of their models originally came out of Stanford research.
Comment by net625
Made Thursday, 29 of October , 2009 at 11:39 pm
When they did the testing for the go cart on the dirt, I was in the park next to that lot and saw their dust… But I would love to be able to drive an Audi like that.
Comment by Tucknoloji
Made Monday, 2 of November , 2009 at 11:49 pm
Well the car and the concept is amazing which can be opted for many circuits around the globe but i think the world will misses one touch, that is thrilling experiences of driving on its own. Simulation system is there but the pressure of driving real will not be there any more. It will a be kill for drivers like, Schumacher, Alonso, Hamilton and Nijel Mensol…