Completing a 97 kilometre course in six hours of driving doesn’t really seem too onerous does it? Especially when the prizes on offer total $3.5 million. However this race is not open to humans – all the contestants in the DARPA Urban Challenge must be robot cars.

DARPA, which is in charge of hi-tech research for the US military, has now selected 11 finalists for this year’s race. Other robo-racers wannabies were eliminated in a gruelling set of qualifier events that saw cars crash, smash and generally run amok. “Cars” is also pushing it for some of the contenders – one finalist is a 15 ton truck. EE Times thinks the number of finalists is disappointing: around 20 were expected.

To win, cars will have to maintain the same standard of driving needed pass the California DMV road test while completing the course, which will feature 50 non-robot driven cars to avoid. “Vehicles competing in the Urban Challenge will have to think like human drivers and continually make split-second decisions to avoid moving vehicles, including robotic vehicles without drivers, and operate safely on the course. The urban setting adds considerable complexity to the challenge faced by the robotic vehicles, and replicates the environments where many of today’s military missions are conducted,” said Norman Whitaker, Urban Challenge Program Manager.

Wired is doing blow-by-blow coverage, as is TG Daily. The Economist has a nice piece on the race with a bit more context.

The far less intricate task of driving through empty desert was won by the robotic car ‘Stanley’ in the 2005 version of the DARPA Grand Challenge (Nature).

Image: DARPA