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  DARPA Project Announcement

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




Team Tormenta