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| Gary Carr, leader of Team ENSCO, discussed the development of his team's vehicle for the second DARPA Grand Challenge. |
Team ENSCO leader Gary Carr says a path planner, a desktop computer with ethernet connections, lays out a route for his team's vehicle to follow. The planner tells the vehicle to turn, stop or speed up as it navigates GPS waypoints that mark the Grand Challenge course.
Onboard sensors populate a "virtual map," marking positions and sizes of obstacles. The planner interrogates that map. If there's something in its way, another path is laid out.
-LIDAR (LIght Detection And Ranging or Laser Imaging Detection And Ranging) determines distance to an object or surface using laser pulses. Like radar technology, the range to an object is determined by measuring the time delay between transmission of a pulse and detection of the reflected signal.
-RADAR (RAdio Detection And Ranging or Radio Angle Detection And Ranging) is a system that uses radio waves to detect, determine the distance of, and map objects.
-Stereo cameras have two or more lenses, allowing them to simulate human binocular vision. There are sometimes stereo cameras mounted in cars that can detect the lane's width and the proximity of an obstacle on the road.
