Alumni Bulletin - Winter 2008 - (Page 8)

computer science and engineering • psychology RESEARCH computer science and engineering LITTLE BEN OVERCOMES BIG ODDS In the arid terrain of Southern California, a robotic car named “Little Ben” made history. The car, designed by engineers from Lehigh, the University of Pennsylvania, and Lockheed Martin’s Advanced Technology Laboratories, was one of six driverless vehicles to navigate the entire 60 miles of the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge. The announcers billed the Nov. 3 event as a “meeting of geeks and gearheads.” While some vehicles were programmed to act assertively, even aggressively, the announcers dubbed Little Ben as “careful” and “gentle.” Little Ben was perhaps the smallest vehicle among a field of SUVs, station wagons, and even a large green military truck. Despite its diminutive appearance, Little Ben overcame giant odds. The car was the only ﬁnisher whose team had not received $1 million funding from DARPA to prepare for the race. In competing at the former George Air Force Base in Victorville, Calif., Little Ben survived a yearlong winnowing process. Out of 89 entries, from the U.S. and abroad, only 11 cars survived the qualifying event. At the Urban Challenge, six successfully executed complicated tasks that included parking in a speciﬁed spot, navigating a trafﬁc circle, stopping at four-way stop signs, and merging with trafﬁc. “We were the fourth car to cross the finish line,” says John Spletzer, assistant professor of computer science and engineering and lead Lehigh member of the Ben Franklin Racing Team. “We were the only Track B [self-funded] team to finish. And we finished ahead of MIT’s car.” Lehigh President Alice P. Gast amply praised the Ben Franklin Racing Team. 8 lehigh alumni bulletin “We are all tremendously proud of how well you have done,” Gast told Spletzer. “To finish in this company is a great accomplishment and a credit to the hard work and persistence that the entire Lehigh-Penn-Lockheed team has put into this endeavor.” development of driverless, ground-combat vehicles for the U.S. military. DARPA, which stands for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, awarded $3.5 million total in prize money to the top three teams. The Ben Franklin Racing Team, which is led by the University of Pennsylvania, and other top ﬁnishers stand a good chance of receiving future funding from DARPA. Robotic cars require state-of-the-art laser and computer vision systems, two areas of Spletzer’s expertise. Those systems enable a car to recognize lanes, to detect approaching vehicles, and to distinguish between vehicles and other obstacles. “The car must at all times know where the Little Ben used laser and computer vision systems to navigate through the complex course during the DARPA Urban Challenge. David Wu, dean of the P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science, also lauded their efforts. “Not only did you compete well with the greatest engineering talents nationally and internationally,” Wu told Spletzer, “your design is among the very few that pushed the technological envelope so that [Little Ben] could complete all of its complicated tasks like a human driver would. This is absolutely amazing.” The Urban Challenge aims to promote the road is, where the car’s half of the road is, and where the edge of the road is,” says Spletzer. Although the competition’s purpose is to improve military technology, Spletzer believes robotic cars may someday navigate roads more ably than humans can. “Ultimately, we’d like to make robotic cars that can drive better than humans can. That won’t be easy. The driving environment has many complicated aspects. It’s not limited to an eight-by-eight chessboard.”—Kurt Pﬁtzer

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Alumni Bulletin - Winter 2008

Alumni Bulletin - Winter 2008 Contents From the President's Desk Mailbox On Campus Research Arts & Culture Sports Ugly is in the Eye of the Beholder Fitch's Law of Motion A Blessing to the Community The Amidonian Acclamation China Trip Bridges Cultures, Generations From the Publisher's Desk Alumni News The Last Word

Alumni Bulletin - Winter 2008

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