Robotic Vans to Cross Europe and Asia
Two robot vans are taking a road trip that many humans will envy: Parma, Italy to Shanghai, China. Each robot-controlled van will be paired with a human-driven van as they make their way through cities and deserts in the most ambitious robot cruise ever.
Alberto Broggi, Vislab’s project leader, is anticipating that the humans will have to take control of the robot vans from time to time.
M4RC0 P0L0. That’s not what the project is called… only what the project should be called. It’s called the Intercontinental Challenge, and you can follow along.
These are some slow-ass robots, though: with a top speed of 37mph and an 8-hour recharge period between three-hour driving periods, the 8,000-mile journey will take three months.
That’s a lot of I Spy.
Failure is part of the plan. The goal is to determine precisely the situations where the technology does not work — and fine-tune it using 100 terabytes of information that will be gathered along the journey.
Driving From Italy To China … With No Driver : NPR.
