Wolfsburg, 2008-12-04
Volkswagen presents Touareg Stanley to the largest technology museum in the world
Smithsonian National Museum of American History receives winning vehicle of the Grand Challenge
The Volkswagen Touareg Stanley has ended a tour of the most important technology museums in the world which has lasted more than two years. The prototype has been on display at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History since the end of November.
Stanley is the first vehicle to have successfully finished the "Grand Challenge" for autonomous vehicles. In October 2005, the Touareg completed – without any human assistance – a 212 kilometre stretch through the Mojave Desert to the south of Las Vegas on its own. Stanley was the first vehicle to finish and set a milestone in the history of robot vehicles.
Stanley can now be seen in the capital city of the US at the centre of the permanent exhibition "Robots on the road?". "Stanley is an excellent example of how the innovative power of science is influencing the current American society in this new millennium", says Brent D. Glass, director of the Smithsonian.
The prototype combines driver-assistant systems, which are already fitted as standard in production vehicles, with tailor-made high-tech equipment. Stanley is equipped with the familiar Volkswagen equipment features ESP plus driver recommendation, automatic distance control with stopping distance control and also the electronic lane change assistant. The special equipment featured in Stanley includes laser detectors, stereo viewing devices, radar sensors, precise GPS systems and a specially-developed steering programme.
Stanley was produced within the framework of long-term cooperation between Volkswagen Research in Wolfsburg and two Californian high-tech locations: Stanford University (which gave the vehicle its name) and the Volkswagen Electronics Research Laboratory (ERL) in Palo Alto. This cooperation produced the autonomous Passat "Junior" which successfully participated in the Urban Challenge 2007. Both races were organised by the DARPA (Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency), a subsidiary of the US defence ministry.
The Smithsonian already had a special exhibition for the Stanley project shortly after the Grand Challenge 2005. Following that the Touareg went around the world and was shown in the most important technology museums in the world: the journey started in Singapore and Johannesburg and went on to Munich. Here it was shown in the transport section of the German Museum. The vehicle was then taken to Copenhagen and back over the Atlantic – to the home turf of San Jose in California.
"We couldn't have found a better place for Stanley", said Prof. Dr Jürgen Leohold, head of Volkswagen Group research on the occasion of presenting Stanley in Washington, DC. "The exhibition area has the title "Science in American life" and indicates the connection between research and society. Stanley is a wonderful example of how technology which is already available can be combined with the latest scientific advances to produce a pioneering concept."
Stanley is the first vehicle to have successfully finished the "Grand Challenge" for autonomous vehicles. In October 2005, the Touareg completed – without any human assistance – a 212 kilometre stretch through the Mojave Desert to the south of Las Vegas on its own. Stanley was the first vehicle to finish and set a milestone in the history of robot vehicles.
Stanley can now be seen in the capital city of the US at the centre of the permanent exhibition "Robots on the road?". "Stanley is an excellent example of how the innovative power of science is influencing the current American society in this new millennium", says Brent D. Glass, director of the Smithsonian.
The prototype combines driver-assistant systems, which are already fitted as standard in production vehicles, with tailor-made high-tech equipment. Stanley is equipped with the familiar Volkswagen equipment features ESP plus driver recommendation, automatic distance control with stopping distance control and also the electronic lane change assistant. The special equipment featured in Stanley includes laser detectors, stereo viewing devices, radar sensors, precise GPS systems and a specially-developed steering programme.
Stanley was produced within the framework of long-term cooperation between Volkswagen Research in Wolfsburg and two Californian high-tech locations: Stanford University (which gave the vehicle its name) and the Volkswagen Electronics Research Laboratory (ERL) in Palo Alto. This cooperation produced the autonomous Passat "Junior" which successfully participated in the Urban Challenge 2007. Both races were organised by the DARPA (Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency), a subsidiary of the US defence ministry.
The Smithsonian already had a special exhibition for the Stanley project shortly after the Grand Challenge 2005. Following that the Touareg went around the world and was shown in the most important technology museums in the world: the journey started in Singapore and Johannesburg and went on to Munich. Here it was shown in the transport section of the German Museum. The vehicle was then taken to Copenhagen and back over the Atlantic – to the home turf of San Jose in California.
"We couldn't have found a better place for Stanley", said Prof. Dr Jürgen Leohold, head of Volkswagen Group research on the occasion of presenting Stanley in Washington, DC. "The exhibition area has the title "Science in American life" and indicates the connection between research and society. Stanley is a wonderful example of how technology which is already available can be combined with the latest scientific advances to produce a pioneering concept."