Future tech

No matter how wireless your wireless device is, it still requires at least one cable to charge it up. Well, that might not be the case for much longer. A number of companies are working on bringing wireless charging modules to the in-car market. Brian Cooley takes a look at one such technology from eCoupled, on show at this year's SEMA show.

Carnegie Mellon University won the $2 million first place prize in DARPA's urban robot race this weekend, stealing the thunder from 2005's Grand Challenge leader, Stanford University.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Urban Challenge awarded a total of $3.5 million in prizes on Sunday, a day after the race. Stanford University took second place, with a $1 million cash prize, and Virginia Tech won $500,000 for third place.

The Urban Challenge was a six-hour test of driverless vehicles on the suburban roads of the former George Air Force Base in Oro Grande, Calif., where … Read more

ORO GRANDE, Calif.--Three robots finished the DARPA Urban Challenge within the allotted time Saturday, a new milestone in the development of self-driving vehicles.

In the running for the $2 million first prize and $1 million second prize are Stanford University's robotic VW Passat, Virginia Tech's modified Ford Escape Hybrid, and Carnegie Mellon's autonomous Chevrolet Tahoe. These teams finished the urban challenge's three missions within the allotted six hours and without significant problems.

Other teams, including the Ben Franklin Racing Team's robotic Toyota Prius, also completed the course, but it's uncertain whether it crossed … Read more

ORO GRANDE, Calif.--After two hours in the race, three teams have fallen out of the DARPA Urban Challenge, leaving eight driverless cars to finish the urban course.

So far, Team Oshkosh, Team Annieway, and Intelligent Vehicle Systems have been eliminated from the challenge for various reasons.

Team Oshkosh, a more than 24,000 pound Oshkost truck, nearly ran into an old shopping center here at the former George Air Force Base after it ran over a parking lot curb. The team of Intelligent Vehicle Systems, a collaboration with Honeywell, Ford, and Delphi, had difficultly negotiating what to do at … Read more

ORO GRANDE, Calif.--This is the experiment of all robot experiments.

In 30 minutes, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) will unleash 11 driverless cars on a 10-plus mile course here at the former George Air Force Base, as part of its $3.5 million robot race, the Urban Grand Challenge. It will be the first time DARPA has tested fully autonomous cars (with "no animals or midgets inside") driving on a course with other robots, as part of a test of the technology's capabilities as well as its safety, according to Norman Whitaker, DARPA Urban … Read more

A robotic truck, Prius, and family sedan will be among the 11 autonomous vehicles trying to pass their driving test this weekend in Victorville, Calif.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) said Thursday that it has selected the finalists for its Urban Grand Challenge, a robotic race at the former George Air Force Base with $3.5 million in total prize money. The 11 teams, whittled down from 35 semifinalists in qualifying rounds this week, will compete Saturday. They must drive a 60-mile urban course with live traffic in less than six hours.

Among those in the race are: … Read more

Ah, computers. They make our lives so easy ... but we should fear them, for they may yet turn on us. We've collected 10 of the most ee-vil computers not only to achieve sentience, but also decide that those pesky, squishy hu-mans just have to go.

Click through the photos to meet the future masters of the world, and remember to turn your computers off at night--who knows what they're plotting when you're not there? These are in no particular order, but if you have a favorite, or if we've missed any particularly Machiavellian machines, let us … Read more

Two scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have found a way to use light beams for picking up, holding, and moving around cellular and microscopic objects on a microchip, MIT announced Tuesday.

Matthew J. Lang, assistant professor of MIT's biological and mechanical engineering departments, and David C. Appleyard, graduate student in the biological engineering department, determined that using infrared light on select silicon wafers is a way to use optical tweezers as a tool for manipulating objects on microchips.

The breakthrough could have applications in both the biology and electronics industry, according to Lang.

While the idea of … Read more

For all the times we saw the likes of KITT and Herbie get themselves around the TV screen under their own steam, there is still something simultaneously unnerving and thrilling about watching a car drive right past you with no one on board--for real. To see a driverless car stop at a busy intersection, wait for a gap in the traffic, and then make a left-hand turn makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end.

We were on site yesterday in Victorville, Calif., where 36 teams are participating in the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge, a contest … Read more