Students Create Wireless Self-Driving Car That Navigates City Streets
Engineer: 'In Battlefield Environment, Can We Have Robotic Convoys?'
POSTED: Thursday, October 11, 2007
UPDATED: 12:16 am EDT October 12,
2007
ORLANDO, Fla. -- A group of engineering students at the University of Central Florida have created a vehicle that is being called the car of the future because it can drive itself around town without remote assistance from humans.
PHOTOS: Self-Driving Car
"We will tell it to go out to McDonald's and it will go through the drive-through and we sit in the back and it will get our food," lead engineer Don Harper said.A 1996 Subaru Outback has been computerized to back out of a parking space, navigate a roadway and stop at an obstruction -- without human assistance.A USB drive serves as the car's brains, the engineers said. A route is programmed with directions and it is logged into the complex system."It is telling the (car) that there is a street ahead and to turn right," student Remo Pillat. "It gives the robot an idea of where the street goes."The Knight Rider VIP has rotating laser sensors on each side of the car, four computers, a Global Positioning System, and motors to control the brake, gas and steering."There is a little motor that pulls the cable and that is how it gets gas and the same thing with the brake," Pillat said.A wireless Internet connection on the roof allows engineers to send directions to the car from anywhere in the world."That is the first step," Harper said. "In a military or battlefield-like environment, can we have robotic convoys?"The students have entered their Knight Rider VIP in a California competition in the hopes of winning a top prize worth $2 million. It took one year and about 10 people to build. Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.
Copyright 2008 by Internet Broadcasting Systems and Local6.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
PHOTOS: Self-Driving Car "We will tell it to go out to McDonald's and it will go through the drive-through and we sit in the back and it will get our food," lead engineer Don Harper said.A 1996 Subaru Outback has been computerized to back out of a parking space, navigate a roadway and stop at an obstruction -- without human assistance.A USB drive serves as the car's brains, the engineers said. A route is programmed with directions and it is logged into the complex system."It is telling the (car) that there is a street ahead and to turn right," student Remo Pillat. "It gives the robot an idea of where the street goes."The Knight Rider VIP has rotating laser sensors on each side of the car, four computers, a Global Positioning System, and motors to control the brake, gas and steering."There is a little motor that pulls the cable and that is how it gets gas and the same thing with the brake," Pillat said.A wireless Internet connection on the roof allows engineers to send directions to the car from anywhere in the world."That is the first step," Harper said. "In a military or battlefield-like environment, can we have robotic convoys?"The students have entered their Knight Rider VIP in a California competition in the hopes of winning a top prize worth $2 million. It took one year and about 10 people to build. Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.
Copyright 2008 by Internet Broadcasting Systems and Local6.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Several bobcat sightings have a Central Florida beach community on edge.
The woman who was killed while walking into work on Monday in a murder-suicide had been stalked by her killer, a customer from when she worked at Hooters, for years.
The body of a woman is discovered inside a room of a Central Florida extended-stay hotel, according to deputies.
A woman who had just dropped off a friend's child at a Central Florida high school was struck and killed when a vehicle ran a red light, the FHP says.
Watch this amazing time-lapse video of the storm that dumped more than a foot-and-a-half of snow on the nation's capital Feb. 5 and 6.
A car crash involving a fatality has occurred near a Central Florida high school.
In an incredible tale of survival, a Haitian man is found alive under earthquake rubble.
Academy Award nominee Sandra Bullock trash talks her Oscar competition, Meryl Streep, and discusses her Razzie nomination for Worst Actress.
Several bobcat sightings have a Central Florida beach community on edge. 
Check out these lookers who ran into the law.
It's something for everyone: A slideshow of wild stories where you have the choice of watching the video clip at your workstation -- or not! 
Open up your heart and see images from the star-studded romantic comedy "Valentine's Day."
Email Alerts
RSS News Feeds
Mobile
Live Streams
Slideshows
Video
Search
