ANNOUNCEMENTS

Team Juggernaut was one of 36 semi-finalists for the DARPA Urban Challenge 2007. Read the announcement here.

Team Juggernaut was featured in the news. KSL TV Channel 5 in Salt Lake City filmed the Urban Juggernaut and the team's backup vehicle (a HMMWV) driving autonomously. Visit our News page, or go directly to KSL TV's Web site.

The DARPA Urban Challenge 2007 was held Nov. 3, 2007 and featured autonomous ground vehicles executing simulated military supply missions safely and effectively in a mock urban area. Safe operation in traffic is essential to United States military plans to use autonomous ground vehicles to conduct important missions.

DARPA created two separate tracks for teams to qualify for and compete in the Urban Challenge 2007. Track A required teams to submit a detailed proposal with the hope of securing $1 million in technology development funds. Track B required an application submission and will include a series of qualification activities. To see a list of the Track A and Track B participants, click here.

The Urban Challenge 2007 course comprised a 60-mile urban area, which vehicles had to complete in fewer than six hours. To succeed, vehicles had to autonomously obey traffic laws while merging into moving traffic, navigating traffic circles, negotiating busy intersections and avoiding obstacles.

GPS coordinates that identify the correct route were provided shortly before the race began. In addition to following these coordinates, the vehicle had to be able to “see” what wass ahead of it and navigate appropriately, avoiding obstacles such as additional vehicles, buildings or other barriers. No contact with the vehicle could be made once the race was underway.

DesignJug developed a fully autonomous (no human driver), standard-sized vehicle that was capable of driving in active, complex urban traffic conditions. DesignJug has already conducted testing on two urban vehicles, a 1995 Nissan Altima and a 2004 Jeep Liberty. Both vehicles are retrofitted with the Pronto4™ system.

To support its efforts, DesignJug used its laboratory facilities, including: four axis CNC machining, rapid prototyping, rapid manufacturing, PCB development, assembly and testing, sheet metal work, TIG and stick welding, arc discharge welding, plasma arc cutting, mold making and injection, lathe work, 3D modeling, FPGA development, wood working, mechanical assembly, cable assembly and testing, system troubleshooting and software development.