A -- DARPA GRAND CHALLENGE COMPETITORS'' CONFERENCE

The DARPA Grand Challenge Competitors' Conference will be held on February 22, 2003 at the Petersen Automotive Museum, 6060 Wilshire Blvd (at Fairfax) Los Angeles, CA 90036. The Conference will provide background and specific details regarding the DARPA Grand Challenge contest of unmanned, fully autonomous, robotic, ground vehicles. The Grand Challenge is planned as a race in 2004 from the vicinity of Los Angeles to the vicinity of Las Vegas. The prize for the first vehicle to complete the combination on-and-off-road course within the prescribed time limit will be $1,000,000.00. The purpose of the Grand Challenge is to encourage the acceleration of the research, development, and technologies of fully autonomous ground vehicles from non-traditional sources in order to benefit the U.S. military transformation of advanced capabilities. The purpose of this Competitors' Conference is to announce preliminary details and to provide a forum for potential competitors from various disciplines (sensing, software, mobility, sponsors, etc.) to meet, network, and discuss forming teams. The conference will be held from 9:00 AM until 4:00 PM on Saturday, February 22, 2003. The conference room will open at 8:30 AM. Registration and agenda for the conference will be posted online at www.darpa.mil/grandchallenge. Interested parties may call 1-866-DARPA-GC (1-866-327-7242) and request an application and agenda be mailed or faxed to you. Alternatively, you may mail your request to the DARPA address above, Attention: Grand Challenge. NOTE: There will be no resulting contract(s) from this conference; therefore, participants are advised all travel expenses are strictly the organization's responsibility. Point of Contact: Col. Jose Negron, Grand Challenge Contest Manager, Phone toll-free 866-327-7242, Fax 703-741-3892, e-mail [email protected].