 |
|
 |
March 8, 2004BFGoodrich® Tires Equips Top Teams At DARPA's Grand Challenge Event; Tires Key To Success Of Unmanned Vehicle Competition Greenville, S.C. BFGoodrich® Tires is equipping several of the top teams competing in the upcoming Defense Advanced Research Projects Association's (DARPA) Grand Challenge event. This first-of-its-kind event challenges teams to construct an unmanned off-road vehicle that can travel from Barstow, Calif. to Las Vegas in under 10 hours. The Grand Challenge Field Test is scheduled for Saturday, March, 13 and the winning team will receive a check for $1 million. As many as twenty teams from a variety of backgrounds and organizations will participate in the competition. The purpose of the challenge is to leverage ingenuity to accelerate the development of autonomous vehicle technologies that can be applied to U.S. military requirements. "This is a unique demonstration of just how important tires are when competing off-road," said Thom Peebles, brand director for BFGoodrich Tires. "Tires become even more important when the vehicles are unmanned and we are proud to be selected as the tire of choice for top teams competing in this government-sponsored event." The Grand Challenge course will include a rugged combination of off- and on-road terrain that will be cleared of interfering vehicles. The exact route will not be announced until two hours prior to the start of the Grand Challenge when teams enter in global positioning system (GPS) coordinates provided by DARPA. Once underway, teams are allowed one chase vehicle to service and track their progress along the course. 
Teams from the California Institute of Technology (Cal Tech) and Carnegie Mellon University will be competing on BFGoodrich's Baja T/A® KRoff-road tires. The Baja T/AKR is a purpose-built racing tire designed for use in desert and off-road racing series such as SCORE and Best in the Desert. The Baja T/AKR is one of the most winning tires in off-road racing history and most recently scored a victory in the legendary Baja 1000 The Baja T/AKR is the racing version of the larger BFGoodrich Baja T/A tire line, the world's only race-proven off-road tire available for purchase by the general public."When we were developing our Sandstorm robot, we did extensive research to find the best equipment and tires were a major focus," said Carnegie Mellon Red Team leader, William L. "Red" Whittaker. "Our approach was to select tires that could not only hold the road in the face of bad driving and aggressive navigation, but that could take the beating and go the distance. For these reasons and more, we selected BFGoodrich Baja T/AKR tires." The BFGoodrich Baja T/A dominates the field of off-road racing as the only professional-grade ultra-high performance tire offered to the public. Racers can feel confident on the Baja T/A because of its TriGard® Plus construction, which provides exceptional strength, bruise resistance and puncture resistance in the sidewall. In addition to supplying tires for teams in the competition, BFGoodrich Tires will also supply All-Terrain T/AKO tires for each of the 20 chase vehicles used to monitor the progress of vehicles during the race. To learn more about this event, visit: www.darpa.mil/grandchallenge. DARPA is the central research and development organization for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). The Agency manages and directs basic and applied research and development products for DoD, and pursues research and technology where the risk and payoff are both very and high and where success may provide dramatic advances for traditional military roles and missions. BFGoodrich® Tires combines technological expertise with vast motorsports experience, delivering a high-performance tire for every type of vehicle from ultra-high performance tuner vehicles, sports cars and SUVs to the hottest sport trucks, pickups and rock-crawling rigs in the world. For more than 30 years, BFGoodrich Tires has used motorsports as a proving ground. Success on the street begins with winning on the track and BFGoodrich Tires is involved in every type of racing, including oval, road, drag, desert and extreme rock-crawling. With 17 consecutive Baja 1000 wins, the most wins in rock-crawling history, and an unmatched record on pavement, BFGoodrich Tires has proven the only records it breaks are its own. Visit BFGoodrich Tires online at www.bfgoodrichtires.com. |
 |
|
| All press releases for: 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 | |
