Princeton University Prospect Eleven Nov. 17, 2005 Prospect Eleven: Princeton University's Entry in the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge Thursday, November 17, 2005 Guyot Hall, Princeton University Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society Alain L. Kornhauser Team Leader, Prospect Eleven Professor, Operations Research & Financial Engineering Andrew Saxe’08Gordon Franken’08Scott Schiffres’06 Brendan Collins’08Bryan Cattle’07Rachel Blair’06 Josh Herbach’08Anand Atreya’07Kamil Choudhury’06

Princeton University Prospect Eleven Nov. 17, 2005 The DARPA Grand Challenge Defense Advanced Research Projects Administration DARPA Grand Challenge Created in response to a Congressional and DoD mandate, it is a field test intended to accelerate research and development in autonomous ground vehicles that will help save American lives on the battlefield. The Grand Challenge brings together individuals and organizations from industry, the R&D community, government, the armed services, academia, students, backyard inventors, and automotive enthusiasts in the pursuit of a technological challenge. The First Grand Challenge: Across the Mojave, March 2004 Across the Mojave from Barstow, California to Primm, Nevada offered a $1 million prize. From the qualifying round at the California Speedway, 15 finalists emerged to attempt the Grand Challenge. However, the prize went unclaimed as no vehicles were able to complete the difficult desert route. The 2005 Grand Challenge October 8, 2005 in the desert near Primm. Prize increased to $2 million.

Princeton University Prospect Eleven Nov. 17, 2005 Timeline of Events Jan Feb Mar2004 Grand ChallengeMar AprAnnouncement of 2005 GCApr MayDecide to get involvedMay1 st Site Visit JunHire 5 summer internsJunNot top 40, Alternate Status Jul AugAug 152 nd Site Visit SepSubmit ApplicationSep 27National Qualifying Event OctOct Grand Challenge NovReceive salvaged 05 CanyonNov Take care of unfinished business Dec

Princeton University Prospect Eleven Nov. 17, 2005 Prospect Eleven & Competition

Princeton University Prospect Eleven Nov. 17, 2005 Constraints Very little budget Simplicity Guiding Principles Objective Enrich the academic experience of the students

Princeton University Prospect Eleven Nov. 17, Homemade “Unlike the fancy “drive by wire” system employed by Stanford and VW, Princeton’s students built a homemade set of gears to drive their pickup. I could see from the electronics textbook they were using that they were learning as they went.”

Princeton University Prospect Eleven Nov. 17, 2005 Teamwork Real-time Decision System Andrew Saxe’08 Object Detection System Brendan Collins’08 Mechanical Systems Gordon Franken’08 Planning Systems Josh Herbach’08 Electronic Systems Bryan Cattle’07 Computing Systems Anand Atreya’07 Control Systems Scott Schiffres’06 Organizational Systems Rachel Blair’06 Team Leader Alain Kornhauser*71P03

Princeton University Prospect Eleven Nov. 17, 2005 The Accomplishments: Invited to National Qualifying Event Seeded 10 th for Grand Challenge Accomplished 10 miles of Autonomous Driving in GC “Completed” the 2005 & 2004 Courses during Fall Break Some Videos Wasn’t so easy, OutsideOutside Wasn’t so easy, InsideInside Essentially PerfectPerfect Launch at Grand ChallengeGrand Challenge Doing Better than Last year’s BestLast year’s Best Return to the Desert 1 212

Princeton University Prospect Eleven Nov. 17, 2005 Lessons Learned It is non-trivial to “Just Do It” –You must respect Uncertainty (and plan for it) –Harmonize Accuracy –Time is your Friend (only know what you need to know when you need to know it) –More is not necessarily Better –Always assume your code has bugs Stereo Vision Does Work Three (3) Regimes of Autonomous Control –Under “7” mph –Between mph –Above 25 mph

Princeton University Prospect Eleven Nov. 17, 2005