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Team #28 Mojavaton - Continued
September 19, 2007

Here is some additional information about Team #28 Mojavation  (pronounced as a combination of "Mojave" Desert  and "automaton").  Correspondence with Mojavaton's Team Leader - Jim Crittenden has tuned up some interesting things that they are doing and that other teams are probably doing too.

When I asked Jim if he has installed a system on his own car for his own use he said that their vehicle, White Knight, has been on public roads from the start and they only built the test track for the DARPA Site Visit.  While on US roads and highways they keep a safety driver behind the wheel to take over if need ever arrises.  A flip of a switch returns steering to manual and manual operation of the brake and accelerator override the computer control.  To me this sounds like a very practical approach.  Look closely, do you remember seeing this vehicle on the road with you in traffic?



They violated the first law of marketing which is "pick a name that everyone can pronounce". But on the otherhand they never claimed to be marketing experts.  One big advantage to the unique name is that when you do a Google search it returns ONLY links to their team.
    
The team is composed of 9 members from Grand Junction, Colorado with what looks like what could be a winning combination.  Their backgrounds are primarily in industrial automation - an excellent starting point for this project.  Most of the team has worked together for many years designing and building custom industrial machinery.  Having worked together for a long time counts for a lot when taking on a new project such as the DARPA Urban Challenge.  They share a history and that makes for a team that operates like a well oiled machine. Team member Dan Councilman  is the president of Genesis Engineered Solutions, a system integrator for machine vision and industrial automation - with vision being an important part of the race you couldn't ask for a better background.
 
As machine designers, they understand that a technical success that is a commercial failure is no success at all.  They believe that here's no point in finding a $1,000,000 solution to a $100,000 problem. Their solution to the Urban Challenge they believe is cost effective and can easily be replicated. 
 
Jim says: "When people ask if autonomous vehicles are a reality, we say "yes, you just have to be willing to give up your trunk space".  Or in the case of one of the other teams - the spare tire well.
 
White Knight has about 30 corporate sponsors who have worked to make participation in the DARPA Urban Challenge possible.  Most of White Knight's equipment has been donated by five major contribuitors: Phoenix Contact, Automation Direct, Pacific Northwest National Labs, Cognex, and General Technics Computers. 

White Knight uses Phoenix Contact's Entivity Studio PC machine control software.  Studio is controlling all inputs and outputs, including steering, throttle, and braking.  It comes with built-in drivers for the Automation Direct DL205 PLC that the 2001 Nissan Xterra, White Knight, uses and for the Galil motion controllers that control steering and throttle.
 
Talk about recycling, this is the same car that they ran in the 2005 DGC which finished in 13th place when the throttle stepper motor overheated and failed.  They pay more attention to the ratings such as "continuious duty" and "intermittent duty" having learned that lesson the hard way.
 
While the goal is to win part of the $3.5 million in prize money being offered, the Mojavaton Team also considers encouraging student interest in math and science one of their goals.  To increse awarenes of how cool it is to be a geek they have demonstrated their driverless car, White Knight, at more that a dozen elementary, middle, high schools, and Mesa State University.  They emphasize the need to do well in school and to study math and science.  They plan to keep White Knight on the scholastic tour after the race.

GO ROBOTS !
 
 
 

Posted by Paul Grayson on September 19, 2007 | Comments (0)