Team Tormenta
Responds to DARPA Grand Challenge
Desert Field Test of
Robotic Vehicles Offers $2 Million
Prize
Los Angeles, CA 8/14/2004 …
Team
Tormenta announced it will participate in a Defense Department research
and
development initiative aimed at advancing robotics technologies for
future
military use. The initiative, known as
the DARPA Grand
Challenge, is a
field test of fully autonomous ground
vehicles to be conducted in the Mojave Desert on October 8, 2005. The Defense
Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), is offering a $2 million
prize to
the vehicle that completes the course the fastest within a 10-hour
period.
<>Since
announcing it will compete in the DARPA Grand Challenge, Team Tormenta has been
hard at work designing a vehicle that can travel with no human
assistance over
the course’s rugged terrain. As part of their vehicle development effort, Team Tormenta seeks
support from interested underwriters who could
benefit from the widespread visibility the event will attract. Team Tormenta will welcome discussions with
potential sponsors. >
DARPA’s mission is to
pursue R&D in technology areas in
which the payoff is very high and where success may provide dramatic
advances
in military capabilities. The 2005 event will be the second DARPA Grand Challenge. On
March
13, 2004, 15
robotic vehicles attempted to navigate a challenging 142-mile route
through the
desert Southwest. Team Tormenta includes several people who competed on
a team
participating in the first Grand Challenge.
Ron Kurjanowicz, DARPA’s
program manager for DARPA Grand Challenge 2005, explained: “We
were so encouraged by the
promise and the progress of the first Grand Challenge, that we have decided to
conduct the event
again.” Kurjanowicz added: “The energy –
and the sense of pride in our nation’s heritage of innovation,
risk-sharing,
and team spirit – is contagious. Excitement
is already building for next year’s event.”
Information Contact:
Joe
Bebel, bebel -at -
teamtormenta.com
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