2nd Place for Junior @ the Darpa Urban Challenge 2007

Junior the self driving Passat TDI Wagon the main part of the Stanford Uni Team and VW has come 2nd in the Darpa Urban Challenge 2007.

Junior missed out on 1st place due to a crazy overtaking maneuver to avoid a traffic jam (maybe it was just smarter).

Anyway Congrats to the winners Team Carnegie.

Press Release after jump.....

VOLKSWAGEN’S PASSAT WAGON “JUNIOR” FINISHES THE DARPA URBAN CHALLENGE

“Junior” one of only six robotic vehicles to finish DARPA Urban ChallengeVICTORVILLE, Calif. – Volkswagen of America, Inc. has announced that Stanford Racing Team’s autonomous Passat wagon, “Junior”, has successfully finished the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Urban Challenge.

“We could not be more pleased with our finish in this tough competition,” said Dr. Burkhard Huhnke, executive director, Electronics Research Laboratory, Volkswagen of America, Inc. “Junior performed exceptionally and has helped provide Volkswagen with valuable information as we continue to work on advancing passenger safety technologies and help to bring these technologies to future drivers.

“This research is an important step for Volkswagen Research towards the next generation of vehicle electronics, and vehicle safety features that will ultimately benefit our customers,” Huhnke continued.

“Junior” is one of only 11 vehicles that advanced to the final round of the DARPA Urban Challenge, an autonomous driving challenge where vehicles traverse an urban environment for 60 miles – merging with moving traffic, navigating traffic circles and busy intersections, avoiding obstacles and finding parking spots. Out of 167 teams who participated in the DARPA "Site Visit" in June and July 2007, 35 were chosen to advance to the National Qualifying Event, held October 26-31.

“The last decade has seen the acceptance of numerous electronic systems that improve the driver’s ability to handle dynamic driving situations, increase comfort during longer drives or assist parking maneuvers,” said Huhnke. “All of these systems are designed primarily to make the task of driving safer, easier and more enjoyable and also safer.”

“Pushing the concept of driver assistance to its limit, a car will someday be able to drive autonomously, either temporarily or for the full extent of the drive,” said Dr. Sebastian Thrun, associate professor of computer science and electrical engineering, Stanford University. “Junior has been an excellent means to test the many aspects of autonomous driving technology; these can be used for immediate applications in more “conventional” driver assistance and safety systems.”

“Junior” – a Passat wagon modified by the Volkswagen Electronics Research Laboratory (ERL) in Palo Alto, Calif. in cooperation with Stanford University has been made possible through the team sponsors, Red Bull, Intel, Google, MDV (Mohr Davidow Ventures), NXP and ApplAnix. Volkswagen and Stanford successfully partnered to win the DARPA Grand Challenge in October 2005 with "Stanley", a Volkswagen Touareg TDI.


Source:Media VW & blog.wired.com