Wired has a new article about how smart robot autos tough it out, which is about the Darpa Grand Challenge. The Darpa Grand Challenge is a $1 million dollar prize for a robotic vehicles to trek from Los Angeles to Las Vegas autonomously (ie: no human intervention). The challenge is scheduled for March 2004 and as time draws near, and excitement builds, we'll probably see more and more of these articles. The article states that the course will not be easy with plenty of obstacles and only two hours foreknowlege of the course. Another thing I found interesting about this particular article was that one man's estimate of the cost of the vehicles was a minimum of $500K, so that $1 million dollar prize doesn't seem so big anymore. I guess we probably won't be seeing a PIC on an old Jeep, then?

This has all be discussed before: Discussion Forum, Post-Gazette Article, Previous Update, Previous Update, Rules, $1 million Prize.