Tuesday 27th October 2009

Driverless Audi TT Attempts Pikes Peak

Handsfree rallying - who'd have thought it

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Even with the amazing machines built to ascend it, the Pikes Peak hillclimb remains known as one of the greatest challenges any driver can face. But why not just remove the pesky driver altogether?

So goes the thinking of a group of researchers from Stanford University, who are collaborating with Volkswagen to build an Audi TT that will drive itself up the Pikes Peak course, totally autonomously.

The project is the result of research being done at the lab VW has recently set up at Stanford's Californian campus to research the future of driving, but it's not the sort of gentle autonomous driving seen in ideas like Project SARTRE. The car being used here is based on an Audi TT-S, and is designed to run at full rally pace.

The car has already been tested at full-pelt at the Bonneville Salt Flats - presumably due to its attractive lack of things to bump into - but the project will, er, peak, with a run up the twisting, undulating Pikes Peak hillclimb.

The team behind the project have released a video (shown below) of the car being tested, showing off by drawing an Audi logo in the sand. But rather more importantly, they've also included some clips of the 1987 Audi Quattro Pikes Peak rally car in action - and making noises that really shouldn't be allowed pre-watershed...

 

[crb]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8AzQolK_84&fea...

[NWVT]

That is really awsome and yet semi scary and very clever too.
cant wait to see the finished project.
but i think the best part was the clips of the old quatro giving it some beans up the peak

[A.S.H]

This looks very cool. I presume that you plan your journey and it does all the driving for you.

[rhinochopig]

What will be interesting is to see how multiple runs compare, to see whether it is more consistent than a human driver.

[R34]

crb said:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8AzQolK_84&fea...

Christ.

[vintageracer01]

Impressive engineering attempt.
But that is not my kind of motoring, I am afraid!
Where is the fun???
And in future 24h-racing or rallying with noiseless electric cars and in addition without a driver or what?
GREAT perspective!

You want to travel but do not want to drive?
TAKE THE TRAIN !!!

I prefer this:

Edited by vintageracer01 on Tuesday 27th October 14:26

[EDLT]

These are the people that won the Grand Challenge Robotic car race:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6101798.stm

[BoRED S2upid]

Geeks should think of better things to do with their time. Like creating a cheap robot for everyones home that can cook clean and iron and get me a beer in the evening.

[Turbobanana]

Very cool, but how quick can it do the 'Ring?

[MitchT]

BoRED S2upid said:

Geeks should think of better things to do with their time. Like creating a cheap robot for everyones home that can cook clean and iron and get me a beer in the evening.

They did already. It's called W.I.F.E. (Wash, Iron F**k, Etc.)

[Neil_C]

Imagine approaching the hairpin bend at 90 mph with a sheer drop to the side. Just as the car enters the braking zone the on board screen turns blue and the message appears 'Microsoft Windows for Cars - an unexpected error in an unknown file has occurred, Windows is closing down. Please contact your system administrator once you are out of intensive care.'

Only kiddng, I think it looks impressive and will enjoy seeing it tackle Pikes Peak.

[rightwheeldrive]

Wow! Audi have actually managed to make a TT even Duller to drive! I am impressed.

[JumpinJack]

[Escort Si-130]

LMFAO, thats hillarious, I need one of them.

MitchT said:

BoRED S2upid said:

Geeks should think of better things to do with their time. Like creating a cheap robot for everyones home that can cook clean and iron and get me a beer in the evening.

They did already. It's called W.I.F.E. (Wash, Iron F**k, Etc.)

[4rephill]

So is this TT going to be going up Pikes peak at the limit of adhesion, mm's from disaster like the Quattro was?, I doubt it (and if it slids off the side of the mountain I'll Ps myself laughing!).

Frankly I can't see anything that impressive about a computer and gps navigation driving up a mountain in this day and age.(unless it breaks all records for the climb however). BMW have already demonstrated this technology a couple of years ago at the Top Gear test track.

The impressive thing about the pikes peak event is that human beings push the limits of their machines and their ablilties whilst risking the ultimate sacrifice, their lives, for the honour of being the fastest up the mountain. The loss of a driver?, even if it's doing what they love?, tragic. The loss of a machine?, who cares!, just get another one!.

[bobthemonkey]

4rephill said:

So is this TT going to be going up Pikes peak at the limit of adhesion, mm's from disaster like the Quattro was?, I doubt it (and if it slids off the side of the mountain I'll Ps myself laughing!).

Frankly I can't see anything that impressive about a computer and gps navigation driving up a mountain in this day and age.(unless it breaks all records for the climb however). BMW have already demonstrated this technology a couple of years ago at the Top Gear test track.

The impressive thing about the pikes peak event is that human beings push the limits of their machines and their ablilties whilst risking the ultimate sacrifice, their lives, for the honour of being the fastest up the mountain. The loss of a driver?, even if it's doing what they love?, tragic. The loss of a machine?, who cares!, just get another one!.

Big difference; the BMW is essentially programmed; you have to teach it the track.

The Stanford Audi is autonomous; it can any run, in changeable conditions, in areas it has never seen before. It can respond to traffic, pedestrians and road signs. The tach is frankly pretty bloody special.

[VTECMatt]

As great as it is, where do you put your luggage?

Joking aside this is the future, great for people who can't afford a chauffeur or who don't enjoy driving, which is the majority of people.

[anonymous-user]

4rephill said:

Frankly I can't see anything that impressive about a computer and gps navigation driving up a mountain in this day and age

oh dear. suggest you do some reading up on this teams acheivements. their previous cars can 'see' and respond accordingly, like take avoiding action from other moving cars and people. judging by the sensors on the roof of this tt it is not just using gps. this is the cutting edge... if they intend to drive it at all fast, on a loose surface, the control/feedback systems will be pretty remarkable.

look up darpa grand challenge... the tech is being sponsored by the us military for autonomous supply lines

Edited by fbrs on Tuesday 27th October 15:29

[bobthemonkey]

VTECMatt said:

As great as it is, where do you put your luggage?

Joking aside this is the future, great for people who can't afford a chauffeur or who don't enjoy driving, which is the majority of people.

Remote supply delivery in dangerous, exploding places like Afghanistan, mine clearance in similar nasty places, 24 hour mining activity, robotic exploration and construction on the Moon and Mars where telepresence suffers from too much lag are just a few of the talked about applications for this technology.

[hairykrishna]

4rephill said:

Frankly I can't see anything that impressive about a computer and gps navigation driving up a mountain in this day and age.(unless it breaks all records for the climb however). BMW have already demonstrated this technology a couple of years ago at the Top Gear test track.

You should watch the documentary about the Darpa grand challenge (I think it was PBS). The tech in the winners is on an entirely different level from that BMW PR stunt.