Robotic cars take their rematch to the track

Further details about this event have emerged. Please refer to this story for more information.

The robotic stars of last year's DARPA Urban Grand Challenge, an autonomous car race, will have a rematch at the Toyota Grand Prix in Long Beach, Calif., later this month.

This time, their competition will be solely about speed.

"Boss," an autonomous Chevy Tahoe from Carnegie Mellon University and winner of the $2 million Urban Grand Challenge, will compete once again against "Junior," a robotic Volkswagen Passat from Stanford University, which took second place in the contest. The two teams, which have a long rivalry, will also face off against "Ben," a self-driving Toyota Prius from the University of Pennsylvania and Lehigh University. Ben finished sixth in the urban challenge.

Unlike the Urban Challenge, which measured each contestant's performance not just by speed but also by their driving skills, the three teams will be judged by how fast they can drive one lap of the 1.97-mile track. Of course, they'll have to stay on the track.

The race, called the Robotic Grand Prix, will take place on April 20 and will be part of the "Green Power Prix-View," which features futuristic alternative-energy vehicles.