The Observer, August 31, 2007
Volume XL, Issue 1
Team Case enters semifinals of automated vehicle challenge
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There is a new athlete at Case Western Reserve University, ranked in the top 36 in the world in its event. Its rugged physique is capable of maneuvering in harsh terrain, and avoiding obstacles to successfully achieve its goals. Its progress is helping to revolutionize the way materials are transported in war-torn areas and, to protect and assist soldiers and civilians.
Its name is DEXTER, and in the next few months, this autonomous robotic vehicle has the chance to become a world champion.
DEXTER is contending for the $2 million grand prize offered by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge, whose championship event will be held Nov. 3rd in Victorville, California. This prize will be awarded to the team whose robotic vehicle can navigate a 66 mile course simulating an urban area, complete with traffic and other obstacles, using only their autonomous computer-based control system, in the shortest amount of time. These vehicles must also obey all traffic laws (including a speed limit of 30 miles per hour) while negotiating intersections, changing lanes, and interacting with other robotic vehicles.
Safely travelling through urban traffic is a challenge for most humans, and getting DEXTER to overcome moving obstacles on its own requires programming it with an ability to recognize these obstacles and with the training to avoid them while following all traffic laws. In order for DEXTER to reach its destination, it must also be programmed with a complicated GPS system so it can recognize where it is, and where it is going.
Enter Team Case. Led by Dr. Wyatt Newman, Team Case has risen to the extraordinary challenge of programming DEXTER to accomplish its tasks completely autonomously. While the vehicular component of DEXTER was leased to Team Case by ENSCO, Inc., the bulk of the software programming for the tasks of the 2007 Urban Challenge has fallen to Newman and his team of engineering professors and graduate and undergraduate students from Case Western Reserve University. Key in this collaborative effort have been support and donations from the university and the Case Alumni Association, as well as numerous other sponsors, without whom Team Case's success would not have been possible.
When asked why Team Case chose to participate in the 2007 Urban Challenge, Newman referred to his department's long-standing research into robots. For the past 20 years, Newman has been researching ways to incorporate the behavior of living creatures into robotic programming.
"The current challenge is closer to this research [than the previous 2004 and 2005 challenges]. This challenge emphasizes decision-making in ambiguous situations–something creatures do well, so this seemed like a good fit," said Newman.
Another inspiration for Newman and Team Case were previous contenders in the competition. In particular, Newman cited engineer Brian Veal, a speaker during the 2006 Senior Project program. Veal single-handedly assembled a vehicle for the 2005 DARPA Challenge, and despite being pitted against the entries of many large-scale institutions with superior funding, he made it through to the semi-finals.
"It was inspirational what one person can do. Even though we haven't competed before, look how far he got," said Newman.
Team Case hasn't done too poorly either. According to Andrew Allen, a graduate student working on Team Case, DEXTER was one of roughly a hundred proposed entries when the competition began last year. After many months, DEXTER has now been selected as one of 36 semi-finalists in the competition, and is facing its own stiff competition—including DARPA Challenge veterans from Carnegie-Mellon and Stanford (who won the last DARPA Challenge in 2005).
Now it seems that DEXTER and Team Case have inspired a few people themselves. Over the past several days, Team Case has been filmed and interviewed by Discovery Channel for part of an upcoming television special on the DARPA Challenge to be aired in February.
But in the mean time, Team Case has plenty of work left to do. According to Dr. Roger Quinn, a co-Team Leader on the project, "It's been a long year, and we have two grueling months ahead."
Among the work that Team Case must do is preparing DEXTER to operate with much less GPS information. This will require DEXTER to have an even more precise ability to recognize the road and drive defensively. Team Case is up to the challenge. For those that want proof, there will be a public demonstration of DEXTER at the main quad next Thursday. This will offer a great opportunity to get to know DEXTER and Team Case before they head down to California at the end of October for the semi-final and final championship competition, a journey made possible by the generous donations of the Case Alumni Association.
Those that are interested in learning more about DEXTER and Team Case are encouraged by the team to visit their website at http://urbanchallenge.case.edu. There, visitors can learn more about the history of Team Case and its involvement in the Urban Challenge, find links to additional media coverage, and even watch the video they submitted to Discovery Channel in order to be included in their special. Those who want to become more involved with Team Case through donations of time or money can also learn more at the website, or through contacting Newman at urbanchallenge@case.edu. Even non-engineering students can help Team Case accomplish its goals.
This fall, turn out to support DEXTER and Team Case as they battle for victory, help protect our troops, and have a lot of fun along the way.
