PNI Sponsors Local Robotic Vehicle Team: Desert Field Test of Robotic Vehicles Offers $2 Million Prize

Cobalt Horizons announced that PNI Corporation will support its efforts to win a $2 million prize 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 the $2 million to the vehicle that completes the course the fastest within a 10-hour period.

Cerritos, CA (PRWEB) October 20, 2004 - Cobalt Horizons announced that PNI Corporation will support its efforts to win a $2 million prize 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 the $2 million to the vehicle that completes the course the fastest within a 10-hour period.

Julian Benton said: PNI Corporation is always willing to lend support to this type of program and was involved in the last DARPA Grand Challenge supporting four separate vehicles."

Matt Gaskill added: We are very excited that PNI will sponsor our efforts! We have an exceptional team that is comprised of professional engineers from various disciplines including Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, Stress Analysis, and Computer Science."

PNI Corporation is an industry leader in the design, development, and application of sensor technology. The company was founded in 1987 by Stanford University students who developed a new approach to sensing and reading magnetic fields. PNI currently holds numerous patents on Magneto-Inductive magnetic sensor technology and is the primary developer and manufacturer of high-performance, low-cost digital compasses for cars, boats, radar systems, watches, and other consumer electronics. PNI has continued to broaden its patent portfolio to include many other sensor technologies and sensor applications.

Since announcing it will compete in the DARPA Grand Challenge, Cobalt Horizons has been hard at work designing a vehicle that travels with no human assistance over the courses rugged terrain. Next years event will be the second running of the DARPA Grand Challenge. On March 13, 2004, 15 robotic vehicles attempted to navigate a challenging 142-mile route through the desert Southwest.

DARPAs 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.

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