Control Engineering

Paul Grayson

Team #05 AutoTrek
July 6, 2007

Team #05 on my DARPA Urban Challenge list is AutoTrek.  This is the second race that the AutoTrek team has prepared a vehicle for.

On the phone Michael Selzler - Team Leader said that even though his team has been delisted by DARPA he continues to search for the sponsors to support his team needs as he continues to perfect his self-driving truck, a converted 1995 Ford Bronco 4x4 named AutoTrek. 

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Mike is a graduate of the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology with a MS in Electrical Engineering, a BS in Mathematics, a mechanic and a welder. With 30 years of experience in automated computer controlled systems and having held key software positions in the development of Inertial Navigation Systems (INS), computer controlled instruments, automated toll collection systems, and fiber channel Storage Area Network (SAN) director class switches he has the ideal background to work on solving the problems of the Urban Challenge.  His wife Alice Selzler, a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, provides testing support, financial monitoring, and organizational coordination.

 
This is a close up of stereo vision system in its early stages.   With $3.5 million dollars at stake in prizes and possible commercialization of the product, details of the latest version are intentionally vague. 

 
AutoTrek interior from the back showing computer, controller, power supply.

Some of Mikes work between the front seats.

While the vehicle is capable of autonomous operation AutoTrek still needs a reliable e-stop.  DARPA will provide a $10,000 e-stop for the teams to install for the race but up until then they have to provide their own for testing and demonstrating to the DARPA race officials when they come to inspect the progress being made.  The three modes of the e-stop are RUN, PAUSE, and DISABLE.  The disable command is required to bring the vehicle to a quick safe stop and shut off the engine.

Mike got the impression that the DARPA race officials thought that his team needs a larger number of people on it to be taken seriously.  Mike was quick to point out that Admiral Hyman Rickover (1900 - 1986) believed that individual efforts were what moved things ahead and that large organizations often inhibited progress. 

AutoTrek is the truck that Mike drives every day.  Sometimes in full auto sometimes in manual.  He is gaining valuable experience and making improvements.  The race officials were concerned about the logistics of supporting the vehicle and moving it to (a location in the western United States to be announced later) for the race.  The race officials were not impressed when in all seriousness Mike told them that he was planning to just drive it there from his workshop. 

Development on AutoTrek continues for a number of reasons.  It is still great publicity for anyone who wants to become a sponsor and put their logo on a driverless vehicle.  ABC news and several newspapers have already done stories about AutoTrek.  There is a great deal that can be learned about driverless vehicles by operating one for an extended period of time.  There are still improvements that can be made to the system and the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge may not actually be the last race.  There may be more races and more prize money later.... you will have to have a vehicle ready for that to be in it.

In the past other teams have had auto companies and defense contractors hire their best team members.  When I asked Mike about this he said that he would welcome the opportunity to work in the auto industry or the defense industry. 

Posted by Paul Grayson on July 6, 2007 | Comments (0)