Laser sensor keeps Stanley on course

The winner of the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge has Sick to thank for helping it successfully navigate the arduous course in the Mojave Desert in Nevada in the USA.

The winner of the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge, sponsored by the US's Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency, has Sick to thank for helping it successfully - and autonomously - navigate the arduous course in the Mojave Desert in Nevada in the USA.

The winning vehicle - Stanley - entered by Stanford University's team, drove autonomously across 211.8km of the Mojave Desert using just its computer brain and sensors to navigate rough desert terrain and mountain trails, eventually crossing the finish line after 6 hours and 53 minutes.

Using sensors, including the five Laser Measurement System sensors (LMS) units from Sick mounted on its roof, Stanley was able to accurately map the desert terrain, helping it to successfully complete its "mission".

In second place was Sandstorm, a Humvee from Carnegie Mellon University, followed by a Hummer called Highlander.

Coming in fourth was a Ford Escape Hybrid named Kat-5, designed by students from Louisiana.

A fifth vehicle, Terra Max from Oshkosh Truck Corporation, also finished the gruelling course after the 10-hour time limit had expired.

All five finishing teams and the majority of the finalists had LMS units mounted on their vehicles.

Stanford computer science Associate Professor Sebastian Thrun, who led the winning team, said the race proved that vehicles can navigate a tough course without a single human command - so long as they have the latest sensors, lasers, radar and cameras feeding information to advanced artificial intelligence software on its onboard computers.

"Sick is proud to support the advancement of autonomous technology", commented Jeff Wuendry, Sick's LMS marketing manager in the USA.

"The knowledge gained by the DARPA Grand Challenge has potential in a variety of applications, including agriculture, facility maintenance and transportation".

Sick's noncontact, two-dimensional LMS laser sensors offer accurate distance measurement and collision control throughout a scanning field up to 180 degrees.

The LMS system operates by measuring time of flight laser light pulses - a pulsed laser beam is emitted and reflected if it meets an object, the sensor's receiver then registers this reflection.

The DARPA Grand Challenge is an unusual application for the LMS211 sensor; more mainstream applications include prison and building security, collision prevention of cranes and vehicles, vehicle classification, volume measurement and long-range machine vision.

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