At least three robots have finished a 131-mile desert race sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. The article in CNET News.com summarizes well what is historic news. Why? Well, consider that just one year ago, the best challenger in the race only got about 10 miles before technical glitches knocked it out.
This year, the nation's top computer science departments (from Stanford, Carnegie Mellon, and others) entered suped-up SUVs to finish the race in just about eight hours, which translates to an average speed of 16 mph through an extremely challenging course, including a canyon trail with hairpin switchbacks.
What does this mean? Well, consider the sponsor: The Defense Department. Obviously, they are looking for technology that could build better battlebots. It also means technologists are slowly catching up to Hollywood. Right now, there is no real artificial intelligence, but given the past year's progress in robotics, I wouldn't bet against their colleagues in other computing disciplines. Expect Terminator, HAL 9000, and all the rest very soon. :-)
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