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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.
by kchoudhu 10y 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 10y agoThe 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 10y agoAlas, 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 10y agoAh, understood. Thanks for clarifying that, and apologies for misrepresenting the achievement!
- org3432 10y agoYou missed his creative brilliance, he couldn't compete head on with other teams, but he had a more economical vehicle while upping the stakes.