Agilent Technologies' Software Development Tool Speeds Design of First Autonomous Motorcycle in DARPA Grand Challenge Race.Business Editors/High-Tech Writers PALO ALTO Palo Alto, city, California Palo Alto (păl`ō ăl`tō), city (1990 pop. 55,900), Santa Clara co., W Calif.; inc. 1894. Although primarily residential, Palo Alto has aerospace, electronics, and advanced research industries. , Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 1, 2004 Simple-to-Use Interface Enables Fast Startup of UC Berkeley's Robotic Vehicle Agilent Technologies This article needs sources or references that appear in reliable, third-party publications. Alone, primary sources and sources affiliated with the subject of this article are not sufficient for an accurate encyclopedia article. Inc. (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :A) today announced that its system development software has helped speed the design of the University of California The University of California has a combined student body of more than 191,000 students, over 1,340,000 living alumni, and a combined systemwide and campus endowment of just over $7.3 billion (8th largest in the United States). , Berkeley's entry in the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), U.S. government agency administered by the Department of Defense (see Defense, United States Department of). (DARPA DARPA: see Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) The name given to the U.S. Advanced Research Projects Agency during the 1980s. It was later renamed back to ARPA. ) Grand Challenge race of autonomous robotic vehicles. UC Berkeley's Blue Team's motorcycle entry, the first two-wheel vehicle to be entered into the race, was developed by a team of 19 students who had no previous experience designing physical test systems. Agilent Visual Engineering Environment (VEE) Pro's simple-to-use graphical interface See GUI. enabled the team to quickly create test systems and immediately collect and analyze performance data. The Grand Challenge for autonomous robotic vehicles, organized by the U.S. Department of Defense's DARPA, is intended to spur development of autonomous robotic ground vehicle technology for military applications. The first Grand Challenge race is scheduled for March 13, 2004, and will cover a course of approximately 200 miles between Barstow, Calif., and Las Vegas, Nev. The team that completes the route the fastest in less than the prescribed time will receive a cash prize of $1 million. "Agilent VEE Pro exceeded our expectations," said Anthony Levandowski, team lead for the UC Berkeley Grand Challenge research project. "Research team members used VEE Pro to create a working environment in hours versus weeks. VEE Pro helped us solve problems quickly, and its graphical interface minimized programming, making it very simple to use." The Blue Team chose a two-wheeled vehicle design over a four-wheeled design because its smaller, lighter structure provides increased mobility, particularly at higher speeds, and it is less expensive to develop and deploy. The challenge with the unmanned motorcycle design is keeping it upright while stationary and in motion. To address this challenge, the team used a control moment gyroscope A control moment gyroscope (CMG) is an attitude control device generally used in satellite attitude control systems. CMGs control the orientation of spacecraft. A CMG consists of a spinning rotor and one or more motorized gimbals that tilt the rotor’s angular momentum. to stabilize the motorcycle, and a Crossbow crossbow: see bow and arrow. crossbow Leading missile weapon of the Middle Ages, consisting of a short bow fixed transversely on a stock, with a groove to guide the missile and a trigger to release it. solid-state gyro and inertial measurement unit
"The UC Berkeley Blue Team is made up of people from a wide variety of disciplines, so it was imperative that they have easy-to-use tools for designing and testing their entry," said Mark Pierpoint, vice president of Agilent's Measurement and Analysis Software Group. "VEE Pro's graphical user interface graphical user interface (GUI) Computer display format that allows the user to select commands, call up files, start programs, and do other routine tasks by using a mouse to point to pictorial symbols (icons) or lists of menu choices on the screen as opposed to having to and industry-standard programming environment makes it easy for anyone to develop a test system and get results quickly. We are excited to sponsor the Blue Team by providing test software that helped them build their autonomous motorcycle in record time." About Agilent VEE Pro Agilent VEE Pro is an easy-to-use standards-based software environment that helps speed development of measurement and control, analysis, test-system and data-acquisition applications in industries including aerospace and defense, wireless, and consumer electronics. Agilent VEE Pro intuitively simplifies all the tasks required for test system development. VEE Pro uses an open standard graphical user interface environment to handle all common measurement tasks in design and manufacturing, including connecting instruments, measurement, analysis and reporting. Further Information -- Information about the Agilent VEE Pro is available at www.agilent.com/find/vee. -- High-resolution images of the Blue Team autonomous motorcycle and VEE Pro are available at www.agilent.com/find/darpa_images. -- Information about the UC Berkeley Grand Challenge autonomous motorcycle research project is available at www.roboticinfantry.com. -- Information about the DARPA challenge is available at www.darpa.mil/grandchallenge. About Agilent Technologies Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE:A) is a global technology leader in communications, electronics, life sciences and chemical analysis. The company's 28,000 employees serve customers in more than 110 countries. Agilent had net revenue of $6.1 billion in fiscal year 2003. Information about Agilent is available on the Web at www.agilent.com. NOTE TO EDITORS: Sales information is available by calling 800-829-4444, ext. 7885. Please do NOT use editor contact or corporate telephone numbers for sales and product information. Information in this news release applies specifically to products available in the United States. Product availability and specifications may vary in other markets. If you choose to review this item, your readers will receive the quickest response to their inquiries by mailing them to Agilent Technologies, Test and Measurement Organization, 5301 Stevens Creek Blvd., MS 54LAK LAK In currencies, this is the abbreviation for the Laos Kip. Notes: The currency market, also known as the Foreign Exchange market, is the largest financial market in the world, with a daily average volume of over US $1 trillion. , Santa Clara, Calif. 95052. Further technology, corporate citizenship Corporate Citizenship The extent to which businesses are socially responsible in meeting legal, ethical and economic responsibilities placed on them by shareholders. The aim it to create higher standards of living and quality of life in the community in which it operates, while and executive news is available on the Agilent news site at www.agilent.com/go/news. |
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