Filed under: Coupe, Performance, Technology, Audi
Stanford University Autonomous Audi TTS - Click above for high-res image gallery
The autonomous
Audi TTS built by
Volkswagen Group Electronics Research Lab, Stanford University and
Audi has taken an important first step toward its ultimate goal: participating in the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. The self-driving TTS officially completed a test run - all the way to the 14,110 foot summit - earlier this year, clocking a time of 27 minutes, which is pretty good considering that race officials typically expect a human driver to do it in around 17 minutes.
Audi says that the car used a combination of brand-new software, algorithms and hardware to tackle one of the world's most challenging hill climbs. The 12.42 mile course is a gauntlet of tarmac and loose gravel that snakes upward with a number of instant switchbacks. According to Audi, the autonomous TTS managed to hit a top speed of 47 mph during one stretch. Hit the jump for the full press release.
[Source: Audi]
Autonomous Audi TTS successfully ascends Pikes Peak originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 20 Nov 2010 09:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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All four crew members injured during the
helicopter crash on the summit of
Pikes Peak yesterday were released from the hospital by last night. The crew was filming the
driverless Audi TTS autonomous car when the crash happened.
More »
Officials say a helicopter crashed on
Pikes Peak during an Audi commercial shoot today, injuring four. The helicopter was shooting the
Driverless Audi TTS. Medical crews are en route, but having difficulty reaching the victims by helicopter.
UPDATE. More »
Filed under: Coupe, Performance, Technology, Audi
Audi Autonomous TTS Pikes Peak - Click above for high-res image gallery
Audi has revealed a new livery for its Autonomous
TTS Pikes Peak research car, drawing on the look of the original Quattro coupe rally cars of the early 1980s. When the Autonomous TTS was first announced late last year, we were expecting it to be running this weekend in the Pikes Peak Hill Climb. The current time-line for the program is to run the TTS up the mountain this fall and then go for a new world land speed record for autonomous vehicles at a yet-to-be-disclosed dry lake bed.
The sensing hardware of the TTS is using a different approach from earlier autonomous vehicles. Instead of the array of cameras, laser and radar, this car is using only high precision differential GPS along with the inertial sensors that are part of the stability control system. Driving is handled by a pair of computers in the trunk with hardware comparable to a laptop. One machine runs the sensing software and safety algorithms while the other handles the vehicle dynamics. The latter is being developed to let the TTS run like a rally car, drifting on gravel corners in order to get maximum speed. There's a video of the car in motion
after the jump, but we'll be on hand to see it running the mountain later this year.
[Source:
Audi]
Continue reading Audi unveils new livery for Autonomous TTS Pikes Peak [w/Video]
Audi unveils new livery for Autonomous TTS Pikes Peak [w/Video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 25 Jun 2010 12:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Filed under: Toys/Games
Hot Wheels "Speed Machines" Mix E - Click above for high-res image gallery
If you're a casual die-cast car collector, any mundane shopping trip is an opportunity to grow that pile of toy cars you have taking up space in your house that could probably put to better use. (According to your significant other, at least!) If you have kids, there's that to contend with, too - any unopened toy car they come across will soon be an
opened toy car. After all, how do you explain to doe-eyed Junior that really, Daddy would prefer you don't open that green Matchbox Porsche 914 that took two months to find at the store?
Now, the standard buck-a-pop Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars are pretty nicely detailed, but those same castings look a lot better when they're re-decoed and packaged as pricier, step-up subsets sold separately from the regular assortments. Case in point, the Hot Wheels "Speed Machines" cars. These 1:64 scale cars (the same size as regular Hot Wheels) have much more accurate paint and detailing, with better wheels, and yours truly
has already succumbed to his inner child on one occasion upon seeing them. Chances are, that won't be a single-time occurrence, either.
As demonstrated above, upcoming Speed Machines range additions like the Ferrari 599XX stand ready to separate disposable income from pocket in $2 increments. It and the other cars in the gallery below are part of Speed Machines "Mix E," which should hit stores in mid-May. Keep your eyes peeled. After all, this is the stuff that makes your desk at work look cooler than the next guy's.
[Source: Mattel]
Hot Wheels "Speed Machines" dial up the detail originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 25 Apr 2010 12:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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