i-Real: The Real Transformer



Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s largest automaker, recently unveiled the i-Real at the 2007 Toyota Auto show. It is a new conceptual personal mobility vehicle.

But… what made it considered as the real transformer? Well, the new vehicle could actually change its shape easily, to fit its speed of movement.

Toyota developed the i-Real to demonstrate the company’s concept for future transportation in crowded environments. The vehicle is a three wheeler that could operate in two different speeds. Each of the speed has its own advantages. The low-speed mode suits for movement in a pedestrian environment, considering that the passenger is positioned at eye-level height while the vehicle is still small enough not to disrupt everyday life. The high-speed mode, on the other hand, allows the vehicle to automatically adjust itself to the quick movement, lowering its center of gravity through lengthening the wheelbase.

The i-Real is comprised with a safety mechanism that works to protect both the driver and those passing by. It recognizes possible collision; then, flashes lights and emits sounds to warn the pedestrians, while producing noises and vibrations that alert the driver of the impending collision.

According to an article in tfot.info, “The new i-Real is another innovation in a long and rather bizarre-looking line of concept vehicle from Toyota.” The new vehicle’s predecessors included the 2003 Toyota PM concept, and the i-unit, i-swing and i-foot, which were covered by TFOT in 2006.

Toyota intended to make all its concept vehicles provide easy and natural maneuverability in urban areas. And, that makes the company’s effort even more impressive. But, I don’t think I would be able to afford such wonderful high-technology vehicles, unlike the Volvo spark plug wires that I could easily purchase online.

Posted by rob at 17:05:51 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Stanford’s “Junior” for 2007 DARPA Grand Challenge



I have been quite busy for the past few days as I looked for new Volvo headlights online and on local shops. So, what could we have today? Hmmm…

Since the 2007 Grand Challenge sponsored by DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) is only days far, let us take a closer look at the competitors. For now, I will have my topic focused on the Stanford Racing Team.

“Junior”, a specially modified 2006 Volkswagen Passat, is the Stanford Racing Team’s racer. It is a four-door hatchback powered by a diesel engine and controlled by artificial intelligence (AI). This vehicle will be part of a DARPA research project who goals in developing the ultimate “smart car’ for automated driving. Previously, it has attempted to navigate similar vehicles to run through fixed obstacle courses without any obstructions in motion. However, the upcoming event will be providing new challenge to a whole new level.

David Orenstein from Stanford University Engineering said, “That even means through moving traffic and even obeying California traffic laws.”

Junior is equipped with all kinds of sensors and control input devices mounted all around, which includes a spinning, 360 degree range-finding laser that can provide an accurate topography of the surrounding environment. There are also specially mounted cameras that provide a full 360 degree view. Also, more laser and radar units are found mounted at various points around the vehicles. All were considered necessary to keep the vehicle going until it completes the course.

The data gathered are all being process through a custom developed computer system and logic algorithms. In the process, objects and motion are discerned, which is what is applied to the AI in determining traffic, road and legal conditions around the car. By such, Junior must complete the course with moving traffic together with obeying traffic lights.

Vehicle lead engineer Ganymed Stanek said, “Moving traffic is the big difference to the last grand challenge. Now we need to understand what the other obstacles are doing, taking turns at intersections, need to see who is first at the intersection and drive in the correct order.”

Junior the product of combined efforts of a special team of twelve researchers, scientists, engineers composed of faculty and students of Stanford Artificial Intelligence Lab (SAIL). The School of Engineering provided for the programming and hardware adaptation. The team hopes for a win as they build off their previous 2005 winning entry named “Stanley”, who finished a similar race without moving obstacles or traffic laws.

The team foresees Junior as the answer for those who have physical disabilities that prevent them from driving. Such technology even helps in keeping us safer, as Stanek said, “If the car were smart enough to anticipate accidents, then it could perhaps help us. Of certainly for people who fall asleep at the wheel the car could just take over.”

As of now, the team is still facing their biggest challenge, translating the pixelated computer images and numerical range data into accurate 3D models that can be interpreted and responded to correctly. It wouldn’t be as easy as humans could, so it will have to take a little more time to teach the car. Hopefully, they will get it on time and be one of the 20 finalists at the Urban Challenge Qualifiers held at Victorville by next month.

Among those who fund for Junior are private enterprises, which include Intel, Google, Red Bull, MDV (Mohr Davidow Ventures), NPX, Semiconductors, Applanix, and most especially, Volkswagen.

Posted by rob at 21:21:52 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

The Return of the Robot Car

Nissan Motor Company, Ltd., a Japanese automobile manufacturer, introduces the Pivo 2, an advanced electric concept car that will debut at the upcoming Tokyo Motor Show beginning October 27. It will be powered by advanced compact Lithium-ion batteries and will employ ‘by-wire’ technologies for braking and steering. It features a 360 degree turning cabin and 90 degree turning wheels that will make reversing a thing of the past.

Nissan head designer Shiro Nakamura said, “We want people to feel how cars can be so much fun.”

As part of advancement, the second generation Pivo 2 makes use of a Robotic Agent to create a unique owner-vehicle relationship that will more likely be acting like a friend. The car’s designer said that the dashboard robot can sense mood and even prompt an angry driver to cool down or a sleepy driver to take a break.

Nissan designers have refined the wheels on the Pivo 2. They removed axles and install four motors to control and steer each tire.

Nissan said that even if the car is fully functional, it would still be too pricey to be in production for the mass market.

The Pivo 2 will be displayed at the Nissan Ginza Gallery, 5-8-1 Finza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo of October 13 to 14, 10:00 – 20:00, which will serve as an exclusive public sneak preview for the vehicle.

By October 27, Pivo 2 will be features along with four other exciting production and concept vehicles at the Tokyo Motor Show.

The events are only days far, for now I have to get some replacement BMW 328 parts for my car.

Posted by rob at 18:58:06 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Caltech for DARPA’s Urban Grand Challenge

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, a government research arm, invited 35 teams to compete in a driverless vehicle race. One of the expected participants is the Team Caltech, a robotics group at the California Institute of Technology.

The Team Caltech is in the process of fine-tuning - not typically just putting in premium Saab tune up parts or the-likes but through using more sophisticated measures. They have been doing series of tests and trials with a large self-driving van, a Ford E-350 weighing 8,000 pounds with armor plating. It is in preparation for this month’s semifinals of the Urban Grand Challenge.

One of the rules in the race says that if a robot hits another vehicle, its team is automatically disqualified from the competition. Such case is highly possible to those newbie machine drivers. In the case of the victim of a collision, its team is given 30 minutes to fix their machine and continue in the race. However, if the damage is too much, the team will be out of the competition.

The Team Caltech seems to be highly confident that they can survive until the end of the challenge, surpassing any crash that their machine might get into. Joel Burdick, professor of mechanical engineering at the California Institute of Technology, and Team Caltech’s co-leader, said, “We’re one of the biggest robots in the race. We think we’d be a physical victor in any crash.”

The challenge does not only require the robots to have physical hardware to win the competition. The teams must be able to create software that can synthesize and interpret the data coming in from multiple external sensors on the car, including radar, ladar, cameras and GPS. Such software should also have the ability to plot a drivable path on city roads, avoid real-time obstacles and follow traffic laws.

If people have a hard time doing such mission, how much more for the robots? But, it isn’t impossible, since the teams’ eagerness is boosted by a $2 million first place price. The difficulty is worth that much. So, each team prepares very well for the event on October 26, in Victorville, California, at the site of the former George Air Force Base.

DARPA offered $1 million to 11 track “A” teams, including the Team Caltech. It is their way to support the top participants and competitive challengers in the Urban Grand Challenge. That’s one of the reasons why Caltech currently have enough money to prepare.

In 2005, Caltech build its robot, “Alice”, spending approximately $200,000 in the process including travel expenses. Caltech will be using 15 percent of the original software used in their robot. And, the rest are new codes. The software is comprised with three parts: a mission planner that takes in data from DARPA to sequence that course of the race, a traffic planner that gets data from sensing technology on factors like the speed of other cars on the road; and a trajectory planner to execute on the above data. There are still small errors in the program, but Caltech is already working on it.

The dedicated Caltech team is composed of about seven full-time graduate students, one post-doctoral student and two faculty members. The members are from several departments, of which include computer science and mechanical engineering departments. They are supported by Caltech’s Jet Propulsion Lab, NASA’s research center, with regards to the computer vision system. A professor in Caltech’s control and dynamical systems department, specializing control theory, Richard Murray is held as the team’s three-time leader. And, Burdick sees the expertise in control theory, a branch of engineering and mathematics that studies the behavior of dynamic systems as an advantage for the team to stand out in the competition. He said, “This is a large-scale computing problem. We’re going to have some unique, more structured approaches to planning algorithms.”

Well, that would mean we could expect a great performance of the Team Caltech in the DARPA Urban Challenge. And, they are one of the closest possible qualifiers in the finals on November 3.

Posted by rob at 14:21:43 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |