February 13th, 2021
Spencer Platt via Getty Images
If you thought rocket science was hard, try training a computer to safely change lanes while behind the wheel of a full-size SUV in heavy drivetime traffic. Autonomous vehicle developers have faced myriad similar challenged over the past three decades but nothing, it seems, turns the wheels of innovation quite like a bit of good, old-fashioned competition one which DARPA was only more than happy to provide.
In
Insider senior editor and former
Wired Transportation editor, Alex Davies takes the reader on an immersive tour of DARPA’s “Grand Challenges” the agency’s autonomous vehicle trials which drew top talents from across academia and the private sector in effort to spur on the state of autonomous vehicle technology as well as profiles many of the elite engineers that took place in the competitions.
January 15, 2021 By Frank McCormack
The river road through St. Gabriel, La., located on the left descending bank near Mile 200 on the Mississippi River, is a quiet stretch, with plots of farmland dwarfing neighborhoods and industry. With the towering river levee blocking the view of the Mississippi, and with the river in the midst of its low-water season, street-level passersby can easily go about their day with little cognizance of the mighty river.
For residents walking or cycling atop the river levee in St. Gabriel, though, the view on the other side of the batture tells a different story, with oceangoing ships and barge tows sliding by. And recently, their view also included a wonder of engineering and waterway management that few get to see: the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Mat Sinking Unit (MSU).