Call AAA
By Daisy Chan
October 1, 2004

(FORTUNE Small Business) – Even a Gaggle of Geeks Lured by a $1 million prize couldn't figure out how to make a car drive itself 142 miles. The Grand Challenge race, sponsored by the U.S. government's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and held in March, was created to encourage the private sector to develop a fully automatic, all-terrain vehicle for military uses too dangerous for people (described in "Gentlemen, Start Your Robots," in February's FSB). Of the 13 entries, Carnegie Mellon's went the farthest: 7.4 miles. Four other teams crashed or stalled at the start. The prize doubles to $2 million next year. —D.C.