Axion Racing, which has competed in both DARPA Grand Challenges a competition to create autonomous vehicles) and the first team to build a car that could drive itself to the top of Colorado’s Pikes Peak, has decided to prove the power of the PS3 by using one as a key component in its entry to the upcoming 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge.

Apparently, “having cars drive themselves was getting a little too easy”, so the team decided to throw a PS3 into the mix. The PS3’s architecture is reasonably well suited to the idea and the ease with which you can install a custom Linux OS probably sweetened the deal, but at least it should do a good job of showing off the console’s power.

The PS3 will specifically be used to quickly examine information from an RGB road finding camera and will be backed up by a hefty amount of other hardware including a number of Dell computers, SICK laser finders, Bumblebee stereo cameras, and FLIR infrared cameras all guided by twin Navcom Starfire GPS units.

The latest DARPA challenge takes the competition to an urban environment for the first time, and will require the autonomous vehicles to obey traffic regulations, negotiate obstacles and merge with traffic. The PS3 equipped vehicle will probably be easy to spot as it will surely be the only housed inside a big rig, making do with shunting its opponents into the deep mud before boosting merrily away.

Source
Read via PS3 Fanboy

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