For the next DARPA Grand Challenge, an event where cars compete in a rally with no human input whatsoever, Team-LUX will be contending with its latest VW Passat 2.0 TDI race car. Run by laser technology company, Sick AG, and its subsidiary, Ibeo Automobile Sensor GmbH, Team-LUX will demonstrate that cars can be driven autonomously using laser guidance systems. The hope is that in the near future, such technology may trickle down into production safety systems for the general public. Many high-end cars already have radar guided cruise-control, but laser sensors are expected to be more accurate.
The rules of the challenge is that the vehicles must complete a 60-mile course entirely autonomously, without a driver or remote control. Previous challenges were held in a rural mountain country, however, the 2007 event is being held in a US city, in real traffic conditions in November next year.
Follow the jump to see a video of a similar Volkswagen-developed Golf GTI going around a race track autonomously.
