"The Race to Vegas"

Abstract: The recently completed Grand Challenge represented a significant step in integrated robotic navigation capability. In this talk I will discuss our experiences developing two robots for the Grand Challenge. The talk will include some overview of the Grand Challenge and our technical approach to both navigating at high speeds and achieving robustness necessary to complete over 4000 miles of testing and to get two vehicles across the Grand Challenge finish line.

Bio: Dr. Chris Urmson was a principal architect of the Red Team software systems and led field testing operations. Prior to his involvement with Red Team, Chris developed several robotic navigation architectures and software systems currently in use by Carnegie Mellon and NASA. He has made significant contributions to the development of over a half dozen robots, with a research emphasis on perception, navigation and system integration. Chris is a robotics research scientist with SAIC and an adjunct faculty member of the Robotics Institute. He earned his PhD in 2005 from CMU and his B.Sc. in Computer Engineering from the University of Manitoba in 1998.