Darpa to hit the streets

The Darpa Grand Challenge is moving from desert to urban terrain.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's third contest for robotic vehicles will be held in November 2007, with a first prize set at $2m. It will be the agency's first attempt at getting driverless vehicles to negotiate city streets.

The entrants will have to carry out a simulated military supply mission in a mock urban area. The vehicles will have to complete a 60-mile course in less than six hours, autonomously obeying traffic laws while merging into moving traffic, navigating traffic circles, negotiating busy intersections and avoiding obstacles.

Darpa director Tony Tether said in a statement: "We believe the robotics community is ready to tackle vehicle operation inside city limits."

Last October, in a historic moment in both automotive and robotic history, Stanford University won the second Grand Challenge. The school's car, "Stanley", drove itself across 131.6 miles of the Mojave Desert in just less than seven hours. No contestants were able to finish the first race, in 2004.

A location for the finals of the Darpa Urban Challenge has not yet been named. The agency did say that the semi-final National Qualification Event will be held in the western US.

The US government has mandated that one-third of its vehicles be autonomous by 2015.

CNET News.com's Stefanie Olsen contributed to this report

Jonathan Skillings writes for CNET News.com