Robotics and car crashes...this is a little off the normal path here, but due to all the accidents treated in our hospitals this story carries some importance and interest...these are cars that drive themselves and earlier this week we had a video from You Tube so here is a little follow up on the competition this weekend..."Junior" the Intel car from Stanford University seems to be doing pretty well....BD
Now, a few words about driving and computers. It is a sobering fact that nearly 40,000 people die each
year as a result of traffic accidents in the U.S. alone. Far more are injured. But technology can help. These numbers do not have to be this high. Computer controlled vehicles have the potential to dramatically improve the way we do transportation. Computer planning and control can make better use of the roadways and reduce the congestion that so many of us spend a lot of our lives sitting in - not to mention the fact that former drivers would be free to do other things while in transit. People who have had too much to drink will be able to safely take their car home without endangering anyone. What is really going on here in Victorville is a step toward a vision of the future in which computers drive our cars with better safety and efficiency than we can ourselves. They don't get tired, they don't talk on cell phones, and they don't look down to change the radio station. In my mind there is no question that this will happen, it is only a matter of when.
Check out Junior's servers....BD
Junior has two rack-mounted computers in the trunk. Each is powered by a single socket Intel Q6600 quad-core (2.4 GHz) processor running on an Intel D975XBX2 motherboard with 2 Gb of DRAM.
And Junior has a twin....2 just in case...
inside the tent...
Most noticeably, the two leading teams from the previous event, Stanford Racing Team and Tartan Racing (Carnegie Melon) have taken on the distinct look of sophisticated NASCAR track racing teams with a leaderboard of major corporate sponsors adorning their vehicles and thanks to the team’s General Motors relationship, the team now resides in the air-conditioned mobile pits which normally houses the Cadillac Racing Team. Corporate sponsors have been quick to recognize the importance of this event as a publicity machine, and the long-term historical importance of the event.
Luckily, Junior’s test was not exciting at all. Junior did not even get honked at by the human drivers. Everything went as planned except that at one intersection, Junior waited longer than expected to merge. The Intel processors are the brains of the car....
Research@Intel · The Dreaded Merge Test: The DARPA Urban Challenge (Part 2)
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