DARPA Grand Challenge

The DARPA Grand Challenge is a United States government-sponsored competition that aims to create the first fully autonomous vehicles capable of competing on an under-300 mile, off-road course in the Mojave Desert in the Southwest. This annual challenge took place for the first time on March 13, 2004 and was sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) of the U.S. Department of Defense.

Basic Rules

• The vehicle must travel autonomously on the ground in under ten hours.
• The vehicle must stay within the course boundaries as defined by a data file provided by DARPA.
• The vehicle may use GPS and other public signals.
• No control commands may be sent to the vehicle while en route.
• The vehicle must not intentionally touch any other competing vehicle.
• An autonomous service station is permitted at a checkpoint area approximately halfway between start and finish.

DARPA is conducting this challenge in association with SCORE International Off-Road Racing.

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