… you’ve been Urban Challenged.
On Thursday, August 9th, 2007, my friends and I, along with most of TeamCASE, stood silent in front of Andy Horchler’s laptop during a brief break from our field testing. In the background, a Discovery Science channel video crew awaits for our reaction to the all-important announcement. In just a few moments, we would be told if we were going to continue our quest for the $2 million DARPA-hosted prize in autonomous robotics.
Dr. Tony Tether appears — and begins to discuss the various elements that will make up the Urban Challenge on November 3rd, 2007. He marvels at the teams’ progress so far. The location is announced — Victorville, California. A satellite image shows a decommissioned air force base that is now used for military field training. The base is soon to be completely shut down and turned into a robotics course for the national spotlight.
Over ninety teams initially showed interest in the Urban Challenge. Only fifty-two teams passed the video evaluation. It is announced that thirty-six teams will be invited to the NQE, or National Qualification Event. For a brief few seconds — the list appears; Team CASE has made it. The Team cheers and returns back to testing some new behaviors of DEXTER — the most significant being Parking Lot and zone integration.
We’re proud to say that Case will be in the national spotlight of a prestigious robotics competition that is usually led by the best and top universities in the country. We hope to rise to the expectations of our family, friend, and university administrators and perform well in October/November.
Speaking of the National Spotlight, TeamCASE has been selected as one of approximately ten teams to be highlighted in a six episode TV documentary on the Urban Challenge. The Discovery Science channel is commissioning Marabella Productions to produce the series. So far, a camera crew has tagged with us for four days — capturing over twenty hours of footage. A few photos have been added to the gallery that show us in front of the camera. We are really excited to represent Case Western Reserve University on national television when the show premieres in February.
