The company, a subsidiary of factory automation intelligent sensor firm Sick AG, will compete in the third annual US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Urban Challenge over a 60 mile course.
The team will compete against teams from all over the world for a first prize of US$1 million (A$1.2 million). Second prize is worth US$500,000, while third receives US$250,000.
Ibeo’s Team-LUX entry uses two super-sophisticated eye-like sensors in the front of the car and one in the rear to “see” road conditions, obstacles, pedestrians and other vehicles, feeding the information into the computer built into the car.
The sensors can judge road conditions up to a range of up to 200 metres, while the onboard computer makes driving decisions based on a robotics software developed by Ibeo.
The Darpa Urban Challenge course tests the vehicle’s ability to operate safely and effectively with other vehicles in and around an urban environment.
The course will be nominally 60 miles in total distance, with a time objective of 6 hours. The road surface will range in quality from new pavement to potholes and broken pavement. Sections of dirt roads with low berms may also be encountered.
To complete the Urban Challenge, a vehicle must negotiate all hazards, re-planning for alternate routes, and avoid static and dynamic obstacles while completing a complex, multi-part mission at speeds of up to 30 mph, resulting in an average speed of at least 10 mph.
Testifying before a subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee last month, DARPA director Dr Tony Tether said the previous Grand Challenge events had been in important step in developing autonomous ground vehicles that could navigate and drive across open and difficult terrain from city to city.
“But the next big leap will be an autonomous vehicle that can navigate and operate in traffic, a far more complex challenge for a 'robotic' driver. So this November we are very excited to be moving from the desert to the city with our Urban Challenge,” Dr Tether said.
Entered in the Urban Challenge under the name Team-LUX, the Ibeo vehicle was placed on display in London yesterday. The challenge is set to be conducted somewhere in the US in November.
DARPA is a US Defense department agency responsible for the development of new technology. It has been responsible for funding development of many technologies that have had a major impact on the world, including computer networking – starting with the ARPANET, which eventually grew into the internet.
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