The winners of last year's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) artificial intelligence road race claim that they'll have a car ready to navigate urban traffic in less than a year.
"The Stanford car will compete in the agency's third and most challenging derby -- the DARPA Urban Challenge, in which robotic cars will drive in a mock city environment. Cars must merge, navigate traffic, traverse busy intersections, avoid obstacles and master the most delicate of skills -- determining who has the right of way.
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Stanford and Thrun have been down this road before. Stanford's entry in the 2005 race, Stanley, won first place. But that race was run in the Nevada desert. 'The next challenge will be to drive where we live,' said Thrun, who spoke on a panel about the future of robotics. 'This new generation of robots is making the case that they can safely navigate without any human assistance,' he said."
Read the full story: Urban road race to test limits of robotic cars
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FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
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City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority