The DARPA Urban Challenge is the third in a series of competitions designed to foster the development of autonomous robotic ground vehicles and ultimately save lives on the battlefield. Sarnoff has collaborated with Autonomous Solutions, Inc, and DeVivo AST, Inc, to compete in the Urban Challenge. By arming its vehicle with advanced vision-based technology, Team Autonomous Solutions [1] has successfully advanced to the final round of the competition.

Sarnoff utilizes its years of experience in robotics perception, vision-based automotive safety, and driver awareness to provide the test vehicle with the ability to "see." Vision technology equips the autonomous vehicle with increased road awareness, vehicle recognition and obstacle avoidance. The use of highly accurate visual odometry paves the way for the next generation of automotive navigation by allowing the vehicle to always know its location, even in GPS-denied areas.

Sarnoff’s participation in the Urban Challenge allows us to showcase and improve the automotive safety technology pioneered here. Autonomous vehicle technology can save lives — from the warfighter no longer placed in harm’s way on the battlefield, to the everyday driver that benefits from intelligent vehicle systems.