page_title: CajunBot
section_title: Inception and the 2004 Grand Challenge
hierarchical_section_title: CajunBot / History / Inception and the 2004 Grand Challenge
caption_attribution_description: English: DARPA Grand Challenge Event Day photos CajunBot
context_page_description: CajunBot refers to the autonomous ground vehicles developed by the University of Louisiana at Lafayette for the DARPA Grand Challenges. CajunBot was featured on CNN and on the Discovery Channel science series Robocars.
  CajunBot's custom AGV software, CBSystem, has artificial intelligence path planning capabilities, as well as visualization and simulation components.
  The hardware repertoire of CajunBot includes a high grade GPS/INS positioning unit to navigate a designated route while detecting and avoiding obstacles using LIDAR laser-ranging units.
context_section_description: In 2002, DARPA announced the first Grand Challenge: "Build a robotic vehicle able to travel unassisted on a predefined path of about 130 miles through the Mojave Desert. The fastest robot to navigate the course in less than 10 hours will take home $1 million." The first competition was scheduled in March 2004.
  After learning of the Challenge in 2003, a small group of UL Lafayette students and professors joined together to see if they could take on the task of designing a completely autonomous vehicle. "GPS Bot" was engineered as a proof-of-concept, using a small remote controlled car coupled with a micro controller and GPS sensor. "GPS Bot" was able to navigate pre-programmed GPS waypoints without any human interaction.
  Branding themselves as "Team CajunBot", (UL Lafayette's athletic teams are referred to as the Ragin' Cajuns) the group was able to have the first CajunBot vehicle ready within a few short months. "CajunBot" was built on a 6-wheeled all-terrain vehicle commonly used for hunting in the swamps and marshlands.
  Team CajunBot, energized by the tremendous support from the Lafayette community, defied odds and competed successfully in the qualification rounds, earning a place among the 13 teams selected to compete in the finals, out of 106 initial applicants.
  No team managed to complete the 2004 Grand Challenge course, but DARPA was encouraged by the results. It brought together engineers and inventors and managed to channel their energies into the development of important technologies designed to save American lives on the battlefield.
caption: CajunBot leaves the start chute at the 2004 DARPA Grand Challenge Final Event
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