UPDATE — APRIL 6, 2005 On April 4, 2005 Team Autonomous Ingenuity was notified by DARPA Officials that we have been selected for a site visit. Only 118 of the original 195 entrants remain in the competition. Our team will be visited in May by DARPA officials, when we will demonstrate autonomous capabilities of our entry. The site visit is comprised of: interviews with team leaders and engineers, detailed inspection of the vehicle and control systems, and a working demonstration of the vehicle taking multiple runs through a defined course while avoiding obstacles randomly placed by officials. Team Autonomous Ingenuity remains confident as this next phase of the competition approaches, and we are excited to showcase the FTV to DARPA officials. Our team continues to design an autonomous control system which we believe will have great success in navigating the Grand Challenge course. As Torvec takes advantage of the opportunities that our entry in the Grand Challenge brings, our engineers remain diligent in their durability testing of the vehicle. Following are several recent photos taken during this testing: Click a Photo to Enlarge

March 15, 2005

On Friday, March 11th, Team Autonomous Ingenuity achieved a significant milestone: Torvec and its DARPA Grand Challenge Partners’ completed application for the 2005 Grand Challenge was submitted to the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) of the US Department of Defense. Part IV of the application required a five minute video to demonstrate the Challenge vehicle’s current state of preparation and level of robotic integration.

Team Autonomous Ingenuity’s Official Video Demonstration
Windows Media (Low Res - 13 MBytes) | MPEG (High Res - 51 Mbytes)

We eagerly await the DARPA Selection Committee’s April decision on our application, when we will find out whether we have been selected for a May site visit by DARPA officials.

Torvec, with Partners MotoTron, a Division of Brunswick Corporation, and Traxen Corporation, has entered its Full Terrain Vehicle (FTV™) in this 142 mile race across the Mojave Desert. The purpose of the DARPA Grand Challenge is to develop a fully autonomous robotized vehicle needed by the US military in the war against terror. The Challenge supports the Congressional mandate that 30% of all US military vehicles be capable of autonomous navigation by 2015.

The FTV™ is ideal for programming as a fully autonomous vehicle because of its ability to adapt to a wide array of terrain and the most difficult field conditions. The FTV™'s patented technologies enable the vehicle to be fully integrated with cutting edge autonomous technology. Our patented hydraulic steer drive mechanism can be precisely controlled using linear actuators which apply straight line forces, greatly simplifying their integration and speeding the development process. Actuators have been installed to control steering, throttle and brake, and will soon control transmission shifting. The FTV can now be operated under complete radio control. An emergency stop (E-Stop) system has also been installed, and at the push of a button the vehicle transitions back to a normal truck, able to be fully operated by a human driver. We are well into development of the autonomous control algorithms and are confident that our vehicle will excel at an anticipated May site visit by DARPA officials.

I am extremely pleased by the teamwork demonstrated by the three companies working closely together. Not only have we made major strides in robotizing the FTV™ in a matter of weeks, but we have also developed close working relationships with MotoTron and Traxen which can extend well beyond the DARPA Grand Challenge.

For more information on the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge see the April 2005 edition of Popular Science, or visit the official Grand Challenge website at http://www.darpa.mil/grandchallenge.

I will continue to keep you informed on the progress being achieved across all of our technology platforms on a timely basis.

Sincerely,

Philip A. Fain,
Chief Executive Officer