The "Boss" Always Wins...

By Gunnar Heinrich

We can credit Uncle Sam's DOD for a great many innovations that have affected our way of life.

The Internet and GPS both come quickly to mind.

We can also be thankful to the DOD's DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) for pushing us further along on the road to a driver-less tomorrow.

Or on second thought...



DARPA held a competition called the "Urban Challenge" that pitted robotically controlled SUVs from various universities against each other in a race through "mock urban environments."

Carnegie Mellon's Tartan Racing Team commanded the lead with their modified '07 Chevy Tahoe named "Boss" - finishing a 55 mile course 20 minutes ahead of the second place robot-SUV from Stanford.

GM's own VP of R&D was on hand to salute the Carnegie Mellon team for winning the $2 million top price from the government and advancing the cause of the electronically chauffeured car.

"Imagine being virtually chauffeured safely in your car while doing your e-mail, eating breakfast and watching the news. The technology in "Boss" is a stepping stone toward delivering this type of convenience,"the Veep said.

The technology exhibited @ DARPA's Urban Challenge Race is doubtless useful to those who commute - but what happens for those of us who actually enjoy driving?

Will 4DriversOnly become 4RoboticChauffeuredCars only? Trouble...

[Sources: GM, Tartan Racing, Wired]