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The guy built a self-driving motorcycle. I laughed at the first DARPA Grand Challenge when it travelled 30cm before falling over. I ate my words the next year w

The guy built a self-driving motorcycle. I laughed at the first DARPA Grand Challenge when it travelled 30cm before falling over. I ate my words the next year when it made it most of the way. By comparison, after a year of learning to ride a motorbike I barely make it to work each day without shitting myself.

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
thesmallestcat 9y ago
Why does he get all of the credit for this? He was part of a team.
- Schwolop 9y ago
  Sure, but he was the team leader. I was part of a team that built autonomous vehicles too, but the fact that there were others involved doesn't stop me writing "built an autonomous vehicle" on my CV.
  - org3432 9y ago
    There was no team without him, period.
    - bryanrasmussen 9y ago
      on the other hand there was no stolen intellectual property without him either.
      - thowaway60 9y ago
        haha
    - thesmallestcat 9y ago
      Why do you say that?
kchoudhu 9y ago
I for sure would have remembered some rinky dink motorcycle lining up for the start in Primm in 2005. His team didn't make it past the NQE in LA, IIRC.
- Schwolop 9y ago
  The physical object is in the Smithsonian [1]. There's footage of it falling over in 2005 [2][3]. Is that enough? :-P 1) http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_1332301 http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah... 2) http://www.gettyimages.com.au/detail/news-photo/the-blue-teams-ghostrider-the-worlds-first-autonomous-news-photo/94872628#the-blue-teams-ghostrider-the-worlds-first-autonomous-motorcycle-picture-id94872628 http://www.gettyimages.com.au/detail/news-photo/the-blue-tea... 3) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1bkhviWgSg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1bkhviWgSg
  - kchoudhu 9y ago
    Alas, no. The 2005 Grand Challenge was divided into two parts: the national qualification event, where you went around an obstacle course on a closed raceway in an effort to qualify for a limited number of race slots, and the real race, which was a brutal 150 mile course through some pretty gnarly desert terrain. Blue Team never made it past the NQE, which is why everyone's obsession with the motorbike makes no sense to those of us who actually made it to the real deal. The Smithsonian's decision to memorialize Levandowski's engineering mediocrity is, to say the least, puzzling.
    - Schwolop 9y ago
      Ah, understood. Thanks for clarifying that, and apologies for misrepresenting the achievement!
- org3432 9y ago
  You missed his creative brilliance, he couldn't compete head on with other teams, but he had a more economical vehicle while upping the stakes.
tim333 9y ago
Video of the guy and his bike https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CYGT97i8qU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CYGT97i8qU
- sytelus 9y ago
  If that blows your mind then you should watch this: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XFXj81mvInc https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XFXj81mvInc ...and keep in mind that this was done around 1990.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

thesmallestcat 9y ago

Why does he get all of the credit for this? He was part of a team.

Schwolop 9y ago
Sure, but he was the team leader. I was part of a team that built autonomous vehicles too, but the fact that there were others involved doesn't stop me writing "built an autonomous vehicle" on my CV.
- org3432 9y ago
  There was no team without him, period.
  - bryanrasmussen 9y ago
    on the other hand there was no stolen intellectual property without him either.
    - thowaway60 9y ago
      haha
  - thesmallestcat 9y ago
    Why do you say that?

kchoudhu 9y ago

I for sure would have remembered some rinky dink motorcycle lining up for the start in Primm in 2005. His team didn't make it past the NQE in LA, IIRC.

Schwolop 9y ago
The physical object is in the Smithsonian [1]. There's footage of it falling over in 2005 [2][3]. Is that enough? :-P 1) http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_1332301 http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah... 2) http://www.gettyimages.com.au/detail/news-photo/the-blue-teams-ghostrider-the-worlds-first-autonomous-news-photo/94872628#the-blue-teams-ghostrider-the-worlds-first-autonomous-motorcycle-picture-id94872628 http://www.gettyimages.com.au/detail/news-photo/the-blue-tea... 3) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1bkhviWgSg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1bkhviWgSg
- kchoudhu 9y ago
  Alas, no. The 2005 Grand Challenge was divided into two parts: the national qualification event, where you went around an obstacle course on a closed raceway in an effort to qualify for a limited number of race slots, and the real race, which was a brutal 150 mile course through some pretty gnarly desert terrain. Blue Team never made it past the NQE, which is why everyone's obsession with the motorbike makes no sense to those of us who actually made it to the real deal. The Smithsonian's decision to memorialize Levandowski's engineering mediocrity is, to say the least, puzzling.
  - Schwolop 9y ago
    Ah, understood. Thanks for clarifying that, and apologies for misrepresenting the achievement!
org3432 9y ago
You missed his creative brilliance, he couldn't compete head on with other teams, but he had a more economical vehicle while upping the stakes.

tim333 9y ago

Video of the guy and his bike https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CYGT97i8qU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CYGT97i8qU

sytelus 9y ago
If that blows your mind then you should watch this: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XFXj81mvInc https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XFXj81mvInc ...and keep in mind that this was done around 1990.