Robot Racers - The Trickle-Down Theory

But why talk about the Grand Challenge here? Can we really expect to see some trickle-down technology? I can already see those of you who know DARPA's background snickering a little at these questions. No doubt you're remembering a project of theirs that had a huge trickle-down effect. Back when that project was started, it was called ARPANET, and it connected computers in such a way that researchers could more easily communicate with each other electronically. The purpose behind the original project was to safeguard against the possible collapse of the regular communications network (and therefore chain of command) in times of war. Sound familiar? It should; it led to e-mail, the Internet, and the World Wide Web.

I don't think I need to reiterate the history behind ARPANET here; just put the name into the Google search engine and you'll find a ton of links that will take you to that information. Which, in a sense, makes my point for me -- they planted a seed, and it grew into all sorts of wondrous things that could hardly have been foreseen at the beginning of the project. DARPA is approaching this latest project in the same spirit. The FAQ for the Grand Challenge included the question "What will a Challenge vehicle look like?" The answer? "The Grand Challenge is designed to establish a desired level of autonomous performance without specifying how that performance is achieved...who knows what could slither or crawl across the starting line."

Which is not to say that we'll see driverless vehicles and the end of road rage in the next five years, or even the next ten years. But we can certainly expect some real excitement in that area in the future. Start your engines!