Text from and photos Volkswagen of America. FONTANA, Calif. -- With the technological support of the Volkswagen Electronics Research Laboratory (ERL), Stanford University’s robotic Volkswagen Touareg, known as Stanley, has advanced to the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge in Primm, Nev., this Saturday. Stanley went head-to-head with 39 other autonomous vehicles during the National Qualification Event last week for a chance at one of the 20 finalist spots. During four qualifying rounds at the California Speedway, Stanley was the only vehicle to avoid all obstacles. The Grand Challenge, sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA), a division of the U.S. Department of Defense, aims to advance autonomous vehicle technology. The DARPA Grand Challenge puts 20 robotic ground vehicles to the test over 175 miles of rough desert roads, mountain trails, dry lake beds and tunnels, using only onboard sensors and navigation equipment. Human assistance is prohibited. 2 million to the team whose vehicle successfully completes the route the fastest within a 10-hour time period.
“It is extremely rewarding to the entire team that Stanley has made it to the DARPA Grand Challenge,” said Sebastian Thrun, director, Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. “It has been exciting and challenging to prepare the Touareg for this,” said Steve Keyes, General Manager of Public Relations at Volkswagen. Stanley is built from a stock, Diesel-powered Volkswagen Touareg R5 modified with full-body skid plates and a reinforced front bumper. It is actuated by a drive-by-wire system developed by the ERL. All processing takes place on 6 Pentium M computers and measurements are incorporated from GPS, a 6DOF inertial measurement unit, and wheel speed for pose estimation. Stanley and the other 19 finalists will embark on a yet-unknown course beginning and ending in Primm, Nev., on Saturday. Founded in 1955, Volkswagen of America, Inc. is headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is a subsidiary of Volkswagen AG, headquartered in Wolfsburg, Germany. Volkswagen is one of the world’s largest producers of passenger cars and Europe’s largest automaker. Volkswagen of America and its affiliates employ approximately 3,000 people in the United States and are responsible for the sale and service of Audi, Bentley, and Volkswagen products through retail networks comprising in total more than 900 independent U.S.
It can be all-electric around town, but it also has long range to go skiing. BMW should develop plug-in hybrid cars with longer electric mileage. The PHEV X5 has only 14-17 miles on pure electric. If they doubled this is would make a huge difference. Also, the hybrid X5 only seats 5; we really wanted 7 and delayed buying because of this. Almost bought the hybrid Volvo but it was delayed. Software: BMW needs to throw out their entire infotainment system. It is very annoying to use. This will be very hard for the company to do, they will have to replace the entire software department and start with new people. Compare the BMW system to the Tesla Model S. The BMW infotainment system is 10 years in the past. The BMW hardware-wise is great. Car looks and feels good. The software is very very very bad. Cannot emphasize this enough. We roll our eyes ever time we get in the car and try to program a destination. The car starts navigating there. And the voice recognition is much worse than the Tesla. Maps are much much worse. The iPhone app is much much worse. BMW will be in trouble if they don't sort this out. It's a very big difference and a ton of work for BMW to catch up. Because of this frustrating infotainment system I don't think we will buy another BMW. This is our 4th BMW over 20 years but will probably be the last.
The other day I stopped by my local Volkswagen dealership to pick up some wiper blades before taking a personal look at the new 2008 MkV Golf R32. On the way from parts/service to the sales area I had seen a worker with a huge grin taking a grey MkV R32 on a short roaring circle within the lot, starting and stopping in the service bay. Hmm, so was that part of the PDI? Anywhoo, the salesman was kind enough to let me sit in it and take a close look. It looked nice, but I think there's a greater difference or "wow" factor between the MkIV GTI and the MkIV R32 than there is between the MkV GTI and the MkV R32. The front seat was comfy but it lacked the support I've grown accustomed to--it had side bolsters, but nothing like how mine are. The steering wheel was numbered, 3xx of 5000, which I still wish VW had done with the 2004 R32. Where does the irony come in?
