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Team Case Qualifies for 2007 Urban Challenge Event with DEXTER, ENSCO’s Robotic Vehicle

Anaheim, Calif., August, 2007 — Team Case has been selected by DARPA as one of 36 semi-finalists in the 2007 Urban Challenge. Video and slides from DARPA Director, Dr. Tony Tether's announcement are available for RealPlayer or Windows Media Player.

Team Case’s vehicle, DEXTER, is the robotic vehicle developed by ENSCO for the 2005 Challenge and made available to Case for their pursuit of the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge. Team Case, which includes seven of ENSCO’s 2005 DARPA Challenge Team, has made extensive software and sensor modifications to DEXTER for it to operate in an urban environment.

ENSCO Engineer and Team Case Member Jacinda Clemenzi offers, “I’m absolutely thrilled that Team Case made it to the semi-finals for the National Qualification Event in October. I’ve visited the team a couple of times and I’m very impressed with what they’ve done with DEXTER. The group works well as a team and has implemented much of the intelligence into DEXTER that we always wanted him to have. From all accounts their site visit was nearly flawless. I was also fortunate enough to be out there when they announced that the team was accepted on Thursday. The University was very pleased, and it is wonderful to see DEXTER get this kind of support. They still have much progress to make before the NQE, and I plan to help by contributing to the LIDAR detection algorithms. I hope to see DEXTER perform in California.”

Leading Team Case is Dr. Wyatt F. Newman, a professor in the department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Case. His research is in the areas of mechatronics, robotics and computational intelligence, in which he has 10 patents and more than 100 technical publications. He received a Ph.D. degree in mechanical engineering from M.I.T. in design and control.

About the DARPA Urban Challenge

The semi-finalists will next compete in the Urban Challenge National Qualification Event (NQE) scheduled for October 26-31, 2007. The top 20 teams from the NQE will move on to the Urban Challenge final event on November 3, and compete for cash prizes worth $2 million for first, $1 million for second, and $500,000 for third place.

DARPA also announced that the event will take place at the urban military training facility located on the former George Air Force Base in Victorville, Calif. DARPA selected the location because its network of urban roads best simulate the type of terrain American forces operate in when deployed overseas. “The robotic vehicles will conduct simulated military supply missions at the site. This adds many of the elements these vehicles would face in operational environments,” explained Dr. Tether.

About ENSCO, Inc.

ENSCO, Inc. provides engineering, science and advanced technology solutions for the defense, security, transportation, environment, and aerospace industries. Founded in 1969, ENSCO is a $100 million, 850-person, privately owned corporation. Headquartered in Falls Church, Va., ENSCO has major offices in Springfield, Va., Endicott, N.Y., Melbourne, Fla. and Cocoa Beach, Fla.; field offices throughout the United States; and sales agent offices in China, Israel, the United Kingdom and throughout central and eastern Europe.
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