Pentagon robot race continues; winner to be announced

Sunday, Oct. 9, 2005 | 9:53 a.m.

The 16-ton truck named TerraMax paused in its tracks Saturday evening so that it could compete again in daylight.

Four other driverless vehicles out of a field of 23 entries zipped past the finish line Saturday in less than 10 hours after traversing dirt trails, passing through three tunnels and navigating a mountain pass.

They included a converted Volkswagen, a military Hummer, a Humvee and a Ford Escape Hybrid.

The competition was created by the Pentagon's research and development arm to speed development of unmanned vehicles for warfare. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, plans to award $2 million to the vehicle that completes the course the quickest.

A winner could not be immediately declared because TerraMax - one of the last vehicles to start Saturday - still needs to finish. In addition, the vehicles were paused for safety reasons several times during the race, so officials need to take into account how the delays affected their times. Pauses automatically stop the 10-hour clock.

The race is part of the Pentagon's effort to fulfill a congressional mandate to cut causalities by having a third of the military ground vehicles unmanned by 2015.

The military currently has a small fleet of autonomous ground vehicles stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan, but the machines must be remotely controlled by a soldier who usually rides in the same convoy.

Last year's race ended without a winner when all the self-navigating robots broke down shortly after leaving the starting gate.