University of Illinois and Team Underdawg Form Strategic Alliance to Build Autonomous Vehicle and Compete in DARPA's Urban Challenge

Jonathan Stark, a Silicon Valley engineer, has assembled a team of the leading artificial intelligence and robotics scientists and engineers in order to develop a hybrid car that can drive itself without human assistance. The car, which will navigate traffic, park itself, avoid obstacles, and obey all traffic laws, is being developed as a joint project between the University of Illinois and several California engineers who have already successfully built an off-road autonomous vehicle.

SAN JOSE, Calif. (PRWEB) November 11, 2006 –- Today, Team Underdawg and the University of Illinois announced a joint venture to build an autonomous vehicle to compete in the 2007 Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) Urban Challenge. The partnership unites Team Underdawg's Silicon Valley engineers, who participated in the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge, with students and researchers from the University of Illinois College of Engineering, one of the world's most prestigious and largest engineering institutions. The new alliance, named "Team Orange," is poised to be a formidable force at DARPA's Urban Challenge, where the team's unmanned robotic vehicle will endeavor to complete a 60-mile course in an urban setting – complete with moving traffic, busy intersections, and obstacles – in less than six hours.

In 2005, Team Underdawg competed in DARPA's Grand Challenge, the precursor to the Urban Challenge, on a shoestring budget with a core team of less than a dozen members. The team of volunteer engineers was one of only 43 teams selected from nearly two-hundred applicants to compete. The team raced their salvaged $500 Jeep Cherokee against multi-million dollar entries furnished by car companies, defense contractors, and universities. With their skeleton crew and strict budget, Team Underdawg developed the technology required to compete against teams with more than 100 members for the $2 million prize.

"At last year's Grand Challenge, we demonstrated that a dedicated group of creative engineers can develop and employ the technology necessary to build an affordable autonomous vehicle," said Jonathan Stark, Team Orange's leader. "This partnership focuses the top minds in artificial intelligence research on bringing cars that drive themselves out of science fiction and into reality."

The University of Illinois brings world-class expertise in engineering and artificial intelligence to Team Orange. Professor Eyal Amir, named one of this year's "AI's Ten to Watch," leads the University's cross-disciplinary efforts for the team. Professor Amir is coordinating efforts from the university's Computer Science, Agricultural Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, and Electrical and Computer Engineering departments – all of which are consistently ranked in the top ten nationwide.

"When a person drives a car, they sense, think, and react without much notice. Programming a computer to do those tasks involves the coordination of vision, state estimation, reasoning, and motion planning in an uncertain environment. Coupling Team Underdawg's hands-on experience in building functional autonomous cars with the university's expertise in artificial intelligence will result in cars that are safer, more efficient, and more reliable," explained Professor Amir.

Robotic vehicles have the potential to save lives. At the Grand Challenge, Team Underdawg proved that the technology is ripe for autonomous vehicle navigation. Now, partnered with the University of Illinois as Team Orange, the group has the resources necessary to demonstrate that the technology can be safely employed in an urban setting.

About Team Orange
Team Orange is a strategic alliance formed in 2006 to develop an autonomous vehicle for entry into the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge. The team is composed of leading academics and professionals from California and Illinois. Many of the California-based members competed in the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge as "Team Underdawg," lead by Jonathan Stark, team founder and owner of Stark Consulting. The majority of the Illinois-based members are engineering students, professors, and faculty from the College of Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, one of the nation's top engineering schools. Additional information on Team Orange can be found at http://www.urbanalegend.com.

About the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has long ranked among the nation's most distinguished teaching and research institutions. Its diverse, world-class programs reflect the mission of a comprehensive, land-grant university. The largest public university in Illinois, the U. of I. campus was chartered by the state in 1867 as the Illinois Industrial University and opened its doors to students in 1868.

About the College of Engineering
The College of Engineering at Illinois is among the world's most prestigious and largest engineering institutions, with undergraduate and graduate programs rated among the top five nationally. Approximately 5,000 undergraduates and more than 2,600 graduate students are divided with 12 specialized departments. The breadth and scope of research activities are enormous--$160-million funding more than 1,600 projects by some 650 researchers and thousands of graduate and undergraduate students. Together, they are pioneering new areas such as nanotechnology, trusted computer systems, novel materials, and much more.

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