Carnegie Mellon Robot Will Run Time Trials to Prove It's Got What It Takes to Enter $2 Million Desert Race.

(From AScribe)

PITTSBURGH -- On May 5, Carnegie Mellon University's H1ghlander robot will demonstrate that it has the skills to compete in the 2005 Grand Challenge, a driverless rumble through 175 miles of hostile desert terrain, including mountains, gullies and dry lakebeds, for a $2 million prize.

The DARPA-sponsored, winner-take-all race will take place on Oct. 8, 2005, but the contestants must prove their worthiness long before that date. H1ghlander, developed by Carnegie Mellon's Red Team, will be tested by DARPA evaluators in Pittsburgh at the site of the former LTV Steelworks in Hazelwood, from 8:30 to 11 a.m. on May 5. One hundred-eighteen teams are …