Shift Magazine - July 22, 2019 - 16

DID YOU KNOW?

SELF-DRIVING DNA:
A D A R PA FA M I LY T R E E

tarting in 2004, with the U.S. at war in Iraq and Afghanistan and soldiers being killed by roadside bombs, the
federal government's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, staged three competitions to
accelerate development of autonomous vehicles. The hope: that driverless vehicles could save lives on the
battlefield. The result: creation of a research community that would make fleets of autonomous vehicles "a near
certainty for the first quarter of the 21st century," according to the agency.
Many startups share DNA from the DARPA Grand Challenges of 2004 and 2005 and the DARPA Urban Challenge of
2007. Here are some of them.

ARGO AI: Self-driving development partner to Ford, VW

DARPA connection: President Sertac Karaman and Chief

led software engineering for Tartan Racing, Carnegie
Mellon University's winning team in the Urban Challenge.

Technology Officer Albert Huang, who are co-founders,
were part of the MIT Urban Challenge team.

AURORA INNOVATION: Self-driving technology
developer that has partnerships with Fiat Chrysler
Automobiles, Hyundai and China's Byton
DARPA connection: Co-founder and CEO Chris Urmson
helped spearhead Carnegie Mellon's Challenge teams.

TORC ROBOTICS: Maker of automated driving
systems; majority-owned by Daimler Trucks
DARPA connection: The company partnered with Virginia
Tech to enter the Urban Challenge as Team Victor Tango.

GM CRUISE: The autonomous vehicle arm of General

camera drone

Motors

DARPA connection: While an undergrad at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cruise
co-founder and President Kyle Vogt and fellow students
built a self-driving pickup for the 2004 Grand Challenge.

MARBLE: Maker of robots for transporting and

delivering goods

DARPA connection: Co-founder and CEO Kevin Peterson

was a member of Carnegie Mellon's Urban Challenge
team.

MAY MOBILITY: Self-driving shuttle operator

VANTAGE ROBOTICS: Maker of the Snap aerial

DARPA connection: Co-founder and Chief Technology
Officer Joe van Niekerk built the drive-by-wire system
for the Stanford University team that won the 2005
Grand Challenge.

WAYMO: Google's self-driving car project

DARPA connection: Google X, the innovation factory

from which Waymo emerged, was founded by
Sebastian Thrun, leader of the Stanford team that won
in 2005 and placed second in the Urban Challenge.
Thrun filled his Google team with DARPA alums.

ZOOX: Self-driving vehicle developer

DARPA connection: Co-founder and CEO Edwin Olson

DARPA connection: Co-founder and Chief Technology

worked on MIT's Urban Challenge team as a doctoral
student.

Officer Jesse Levinson developed algorithms for
Stanford's 2007 vehicle.

NURO: Self-driving delivery company

DARPA connection: Co-founder and President Dave

Ferguson led the planning team for Carnegie Mellon in
the Urban Challenge.

OPTIMUS RIDE: Self-driving shuttle company

DARPA connection: Co-founder and CEO Bryan Salesky

shift * july 2019

SHIFT: A PODCAST ABOUT MOBILITY

Argo AI co-founder Bryan Salesky explains how
lessons learned from the DARPA challenge and his
work at Google helped form his approach to building
a self-driving system. autonews.com/SaleskyPodcast

http://www.autonews.com/SaleskyPodcast

Shift Magazine - July 22, 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Shift Magazine - July 22, 2019