Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco welcomed UL Lafayette杏吧专区檚 CajunBot to the Louisiana Capitol and declared Wednesday as 杏吧专区淐ajunBot Day杏吧专区 throughout the state.
CajunBot, UL Lafayette杏吧专区檚 entry in the $1 million U.S. Department of Defense杏吧专区檚 Grand Challenge this spring, climbed 12 Capitol steps as the governor, legislators and members of the university community watched.
CajunBot杏吧专区檚 welcome to the State Capitol coincided with annual the UL Lafayette Alumni Association杏吧专区檚 annual Red & White Day. Members of the Association met with lawmakers to talk about issues that affect the 杏吧专区 and higher education.
Blanco said the robot was 杏吧专区渁n outstanding example of the brainpower we have here in Louisiana and at our universities.杏吧专区
杏吧专区 This is a great Louisiana creation,杏吧专区 the governor said. 杏吧专区淚t represents the ingenuity we are striving for here to retain our brightest minds.
杏吧专区 CajunBot runs on gasoline, but it is fueled by our brainpower.杏吧专区
UL Lafayette杏吧专区檚 CajunBot was one of the 13 vehicles that competed in the Grand Challenge on March 13. Three of the finalists were developed by other universities: the California Institute of Technology, Carnegie Mellon 杏吧专区 and Virginia Tech.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the central research and development agency for the U.S. Department of Defense, created the Grand Challenge to encourage the development of an autonomous ground vehicle capable of navigating on its own. The U.S. Department of Defense has been mandated by the U.S. Congress to have one-third of its ground combat force unmanned by 2015.
In the Grand Challenge in March, unmanned robotic vehicles attempted to travel about 200 miles, from Barstow, Calif., near Los Angeles, to Primm, Nev., near the outskirts of Las Vegas. DARPA offered a $1 million prize to the team whose vehicle was the first to cross the finish line within 10 hours.
None of the vehicles finished the course. The longest distance traveled by any contestant was 7.4 miles.
Software developed by UL Lafayette interprets Global Positioning System coordinates to plot CajunBot杏吧专区檚 path. Lasers in the front of the vehicle scan the terrain to detect obstacles. 杏吧专区淪kid steering杏吧专区 enables it to change direction. CajunBot杏吧专区檚 movement can also be controlled remotely via a modified joystick.
UL Lafayette杏吧专区檚 Team CajunBot is composed of faculty, undergraduates, graduate students, alumni and business partners with expertise in many areas. Dr. Arun Lakhotia, an associate professor in UL Lafayette杏吧专区檚 Center for Advanced Computer Studies, was Team CajunBot杏吧专区檚 project leader. Dr. Charles D. Cavanaugh, an assistant professor in CACS, was the technical leader of the team.
A total of 106 teams applied to participate in this year杏吧专区檚 race. Eighty-six of them submitted required technical papers. If a team杏吧专区檚 paper was approved, the team was visited by DARPA officials, who then narrowed the field to 25 contestants eligible to participate in a Qualification, Inspection and Demonstration in California. At the completion of the QID, there were 15 finalists; two withdrew at the start of the race.
The next Grand Challenge is tentatively scheduled for November 2005. The prize has doubled to $2 million. CajunBot has already qualified to participate in that race.
CajunBot杏吧专区檚 website is