IRV HOPES TO SNAG HOOSIER ROBOT GOLD, PENETRATE BILLION-DOLLAR MARKETCARMEL, Ind. – A face-to-face encounter with a 5,000-pound proof of concept worth potentially billions of dollars is not the everyday cup of coffee for your Hoosier Coefficient columnist.
Nevertheless, there it was: a 2005 Jeep Rubicon extensively draped with state-of-the-art laser and infrared sensors, GPS tracking modules, independent Doppler radar systems, 40-plus high-speed laptops and a 50,000-watt industrial generator neatly welded to the back bumper.
While a previous Hoosier Coefficient column in April about this very subject detailed the tech specs for this all-Hoosier entry in the DARPA Grand Challenge, seeing “IRV” (as the team calls it, which is short for Indy Robotic Vehicle) up close is something else entirely.
With barely eight weeks to go, Indy Robot Racing team leaders Scott Jones and Doug Traster remain enthusiastically confident that IRV will not only make the final DARPA cut to race in the desert but they’ll bust through the entire 175-mile nightmare course in California on Oct. 8. Considering that the present DARPA record is seven miles (held by a Carnegie-Mellon robotic entry that met an unfortunate end), that seems to be a bit of a tall order.
Not for this high-tech Hoosier crowd.
Twisting along the 20-acre testing field that Jones and Indy Robotics put up north of Indianapolis, IRV looked pretty good (even without a human driver). As I watched, IRV missed a pylon. Jones growled with a good nature about him: “Everything was running perfectly before you got here.”
No worries. The Indy chief mathematician wandered over and explained they were field testing some new GPS algorithms. He said: “I guarantee IRV will make it this time.” IRV did. IRV smoothly glided between foot-high pylons at a brisk clip with its steering wheel rotating sans aid of human hands.
IRV breezed through the DARPA testing cut in May and edged out 160 other entries to join 40 teams vying for 20 spots to complete in the unforgiving Mojave Desert in October.
“We’re hitting all of our milestones, so despite all of the work that needs to be done, we’ll be ready on race day,” said a confident Traster, who holds three patents and whose companies he founded are recognized innovators in hardware testing, high-speed data communication and, of course, commercial robotics.
Who’s hitting all of those milestones? Try about 100 of the top engineering and development minds in Indiana (all of whom donate at least 20 hours a week toward making IRV invincible in the high desert).
A couple weeks ago, more than a dozen software engineers slaved 30 straight hours over a weekend while crunching out thousands of lines of code for IRV. Added a buoyant Traster, who looks like he’d rather pull an all-nighter for IRV than eat ice cream: “Yes, that was an intense marathon, but it put us in pretty good shape.”
So what drives 100 people to cough up all of their free time – totaling more than 40,000 collective hours – for two years? While the $2 million DARPA award for first place represents a nice goal, the members of the Indy team see far beyond that. With the Pentagon set to automate at least one-third of all military vehicles by 2015, we’re talking a brand-new $100 billion market.
But there’s more. Lots more.
“What we’re basically looking at is the future of the transportation industry,” said Jones, a soft-spoken MIT and Indiana University alumni who holds a remarkable and highly lucrative portfolio of telecom patents. “Apart from military applications, I get much more excited about where this technology will end up in the commercial world.”
Give Jones a few minutes and he will carefully and believably articulate a vision of robotic transformation with automated 18-wheelers safely hauling goods across America in the middle of the night while freeing up valuable interstate space for auto traffic during the day.
“As we perfect this technology here in Indiana, you will eventually see real-time robotic chauffeurs taking people from place to place – to the grocery, work and just about anywhere – all safely and efficiently,” Jones asserted.
Mundane jobs such as street sweeping and cleaning can easily be handled by sensor-packed robots. Robotic vehicles can safely operate at any time of day as they don’t get tired, intoxicated or fall asleep at the wheel. Want evidence of market? Consider the present success of the Roomba vacuum cleaner, which is manufactured by iRobot.
“Military applications are hardcore,” Jones explained. “If we can build an automated vehicle that can safely traverse some of the most challenging terrain on earth – including 500-foot ravines, massive boulders, intense dry heat and deliberate obstacles – then essentially what we have is proof of concept that can be refined into a variety of commercially viable products.”
So the attraction of working for the Indy Robot Team stretches beyond merely restoring the Hoosier glory of being a hotbed of automotive innovation. Team Indy volunteers and sponsors also get rewarded with shares of private corporate stock from Indy Robotics for the post-DARPA development effort.
“Based on our present experience and knowledge base with IRV, we believe we’ll have a working commercial prototype in about 24 months or so,” Traster said.
The DARPA challenge provides a good framework for high-energy development against a set goal, according to Jones. The Indy Robot Team also includes a bevy of savvy attorneys and marketing professionals to protect and promote intellectual property encased in the 1,500 pounds of technology carried aboard IRV.
Jones and Traster aren’t leaving anything to chance. In a couple weeks after U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana takes a peek under the hood, IRV will plow through a full grueling simulation of the 175-mile horror trek. “That way,” says a beaming Traster, “we’ll have a whole four weeks to work out the final bugs before the Fontana semi-qualifications.”
So is it too late to get aboard this potential money-making machine as a volunteer, sponsor or investor? No, says Jones, but time is running out.
Those interested in being part of the next wave of successful transportation technology should check out the Indy Robot Team Website and sign up. The team could still use a few more shekels from sponsors, and while team members are limited to Hoosiers, “sponsor dollars from outside Indiana work just fine,” a smiling Jones said.
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