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OS X Operating Systems Science

Mac OS X Drives Grand Challenge Entry 152

Posted by Zonk from the apples-for-brains dept.
Anonymous Coward writes "Apple technology drives a new fully-autonomous vehicle developed for a major U.S. competition. From the article: 'Team Banzai is one of just 40 teams selected from 118 entrants from around North America to have made it through to the semi-finals of the 2005 DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) Grand Challenge.'"
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Mac OS X Drives Grand Challenge Entry More

Mac OS X Drives Grand Challenge Entry

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  • I, for one... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 23, 2005 @04:47PM (#13145902)
    ...welcome our OS X-powered autonomous vehicle overlords.

  • Must be a marvel of engineering... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Laivincolmo ( 778355 ) on Saturday July 23, 2005 @04:48PM (#13145907)
    ...with only a single pedal for both acceleration and braking...

  • Fruit-flavoured Victory. (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    ""Apple technology drives a new fully-autonomous vehicle developed for a major U.S. competition."

    Woo Hoo! Cars run on Apple juice.

  • Alternative headline (Score:1, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward


    Pentagon backed competition (DARPA) recruits American schoolchildren to design its next generation of automated killing machines

    funny how different words can chill the reality

  • Why did they choose Macs? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by intmainvoid ( 109559 ) on Saturday July 23, 2005 @04:52PM (#13145926)
    Unfortunately the article doesn't expand on why they chose Macs. It'd be interesting to know if that was just what they were familiar with, or if they choose it for some specific reason.

    It's not like they'd be making use of spotlight or having a dashboard widget drive the car!

  • Guffaw Guffaw (Score:5, Funny)

    by Lord Marlborough ( 897605 ) on Saturday July 23, 2005 @04:52PM (#13145927)
    It's biggest advantage is that it gets to start off several years ahead of any windows machines... Ha Ha... hmmmmm :-(

  • Meanwhile... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Tiberius_Fel ( 770739 ) <`ten.nrobereripme' `ta' `lef'> on Saturday July 23, 2005 @04:53PM (#13145935)
    The Linux car drove in a never-ending circle (infinite loop), the Solaris car barely got moving at speed, and the Windows car crashed into a tree... :P

  • Which of the Tiger features are they using? (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    My money's on Dashboard...

  • Wow (Score:2, Insightful)

    by jrockway ( 229604 )
    I used to believe that slashdot didn't run slashvertisements, but now I know I'm wrong. How is this news for nerds? It's just "propaganda for apple". What would be news for nerds would be a profile of the competition and the non OS X entries. But no, all we get is an article about how good Apple is because some robot is run by their OS. Great.

    I'll also note that the same article has been on Apple's "start page" (the default site for Safari) for over a week.

    Staying on topic :), I don't see the point o

    • Re:Wow (Score:5, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 23, 2005 @05:01PM (#13145989)
      > what specific Aqua/Cocoa feature was used here?

      OS X isn't just a nice environment for users, it's an awesome environment for many coders. If they're like the many coders who love xcode, then xcode may have been that aqua/cocoa feature used as a big part of the development process, rather an important part of the resulting product.

      • Re:Wow (Score:3, Interesting)

        by MustardMan ( 52102 )
        While I agree that xcode is an awesome development environment, there's nothing to stop the designers from using xcode on their desktops, then compiling and running the code on another *nix on the embedded computers in the robot. You can use xcode without using any apple-specific extensions, and because it's mostly a frontend to existing GNU tools, it's very easy to write console apps that work on both platforms without any tweaking. I do a similar thing on a daily basis - tweak my code in xcode, then upl
      • Genuinely not trolling, but don't you find the XCode editor a bit pants? Kate/Kdevelop seem so much nicer to me (though this is what I started with, and I'm only just learning XCode now).

    • Re:Wow (Score:1, Flamebait)

      by FLAGGR ( 800770 )
      Funny that you people like you wouldn't say anything if the thing ran FreeBSD. Just because you don't run OSX, don't care about Apple or anything related, doesn't mean other people don't. I admit some of the /. Apple stories are crap, but this one is good. If you have a problem with Apple stories on /., go to your prefrences and turn 'em off. Slashdot wasn't made specifically for you. God I hate "How is this news for nerds?" posts. /.'s new slogan should be "News, and if you disagree then shut the fuck up b
      • Whoa, whoa, whoa. Nobody said anything about hating Apple. I made that post from my Powerbook running Tiger! (I've also never installed a *BSD; GNU/Linux is my thing...) I just want to know what the point of the article is... why is it so interesting that someone is using OS X to control a vehicle?

        It's based of the BSD kernel, and you can run said kernel by itself, without Aqua. Why the hell would they include Aqua in the car?

        Specifically, what does their version of BSD (darwin) do that a free BSD
        • It's the MACH kernel.. NOT FreeBSD's kernel.
          • The kernel has been hacked to death by Apple, so they call it xnu
            [-macinstein-:~] p% uname -a
            Darwin -Macinstein- 8.2.0 Darwin Kernel Version 8.2.0: Fri Jun 24 17:46:54 PDT 2005; root:xnu-792.2.4.obj~3/RELEASE_PPC Power Macintosh powerpc
          • It's the MACH kernel..

            ...with a pile of BSD-derived code on top of it (i.e., xnu isn't just the Mach kernel, the name mach_kernel nonwithstanding; it also has a large chunk of BSD-derived code in the bsd directory).

    • ...a control system doesn't need a shiny GUI and integration with your iPod. So I think FreeBSD or Linux might have been a better choice...

      For an embedded RT system QNX [qnx.com] would be the go.

    • So if the article replaced every instance of OS X with Linux and Apple with some distribution of your choice it suddenly becomes news for nerds instead of propaganda for Linux zealots.

      FreeBSD and Linux might not have been a better choice if say, the developers knew how to develop for Macs better or if there are some aspects of Darwin that lend themselves to the task. Maybe they wanted the benefits of having a tightly integrated system as a base so that they wouldn't have to worry about making a mistake in
    • Since they have to analyze a lot of data, maybe using the AltiVec engine in the PPC and/or the additional processing made available using Core Image frameworks (for processing images gathered by radar, laser, GPS, etc. made their work easier, cheaper, faster, etc. If they start out with a base Linux or BSD install, those frameworks are not available. Believe it or not, there is much more to OS X than just a pretty interface.

  • An obvious choice (Score:5, Funny)

    by civman2 ( 773494 ) on Saturday July 23, 2005 @04:54PM (#13145947) Homepage
    If I were designed a car, I'd want to be sure it had a dashboard too!

    And since it's autonomous, it doesn't need any Windows!
  • I'd imagine an iCar would be quite popular among all those people hacking their car's computers, be they prius owners [makezine.com] or otherwise.

    Heck, the G5 already looks like it could be substituted out for various engine parts, or at least fit in with most modern "blocks" under the hood.

  • Very cool, more information.. (Score:5, Informative)

    by Sv-Manowar ( 772313 ) on Saturday July 23, 2005 @05:02PM (#13145997) Homepage Journal
    There's more information from Team Banzai on 'Dora' the self-driving touareg at their official website [gobanzai.com], including pictures of the three mini macs & networking hardware that drive the car. Considering some of the other competitors are entering in Hummer H1's, their choice of a relatively sane offroader (VW Touareg) could be very interesting. There are also interesting technical discussions over on the Club Touareg [clubtouareg.com] forums.
  • Does Microsoft plan to enter a vehicle running Windows Vista? I wouldn't mistake the red on the windshield for a Red Screen Of Death (RSOD). It just might be a Mac user who got splattered. :P
  • Lets just get it out of the way- Of course they didn't use windows- then it would have crashed...
    Anyhow, I remember back in the day when the LOGO turtle was the height of tech- and we would do little programs on Apples also.
    Does the DARPA entry have an iPod adapter?
  • i've wondered what the link between apple and volkswagen is. their ads have a similar feel. the ipod and beetle were paired. osx on a toureg. anyone care to shed some light?
    • Some people have this perception that Volkswagen are "gay" cars. In that the owners of the cars are gay. Not necessarily the car itself.

      Apple used to have a rainbow logo. So, no I can't really shed any light on this.

  • that's all it is if you ask me.
    can't imagine the OS used playing any role in such a setting.
    don't think the autonomous vehicle needs e.g. the
    new "strong desktop search tool"
    • if you read the article you insensitive clod, you would see these were former NEXT programers. i cant imagine why they choose OS X, other than it is based on Next.

      oh, but because they used the programing environment they preferred long before it became Apples, its a Stunt.

      If it OSX wasn't Next, and they still choose next, you would probably be saying, pretty neat.

      • i read the article (not that there was much to read) and noticed the Next link as well.
        no problem with them using what they know.
        it's a publicity stunt because their OS selection is sold as exciting news without any clue as to what special role OSX actually plays.
        It's just a general purpose OS ... their software probably could run pretty much anywhere.
    • They need it to search the HD for the map incase they get lost.

  • In other news... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by CosmeticLobotamy ( 155360 ) on Saturday July 23, 2005 @05:08PM (#13146032)
    In other news, 39 out of 40 Grand Challenge Entries not OSX driven.

    I love OSX and everything, but this isn't exactly something to be proud of.

  • Buckaroo! (Score:3, Funny)

    by invisigoth ( 131518 ) on Saturday July 23, 2005 @05:09PM (#13146041)
    Dr. Lizardo surrenders.

    IMDB [imdb.com]
    • Does this mean that the Oscillation Overthruster is behind OSX? I've always had my suspicions...
    • And now for a collection of movie references:
      ---
      Laugh while you can, OS X-bashing monkey boys!
      ---
      Where are they going?

      THE DARPA GRAND CHALLENGE!

      When?

      REAL SOON!!!
      ---
      Which member is Pecos? Or is Pecos still in Tibet?
      ---
      Maybe it'll get to its destination by traveling *through* the obstacles!
      ---
      I'm sure that at at least one point in the building process, someone said "No no no, don't tug on that, you never know what it might be attached to!"
      ---
      Does the computer driving the car wear a ninja hea
  • The reason for chosing OSX is pretty simple.
    If you're going to crash, you get a rather soothing message on your windshield, saying something went wrong.

    On the plus side, if you're running with classic mode enabled, you also get a sadface prior to when all hell breaks loose.
  • IRAQ (AP) - MacMini driven HUMVEE, armed with .50 Cal machine gun, jump starts apple's new switcher campaign. Female insurgent, Ahbudla Muhamda 22, says, "The thing just works, I was on the PC and it was like beep, beep, beep, beep, then bam, like from no where this thing, like, obliterates my Dell with, like a, storm of bullets. I switched and fast." Terrorists, according to local reports, are scared shitless and rumors suggest the whole insurgency is being hamstrung without computers.
  • Good thing this vehicle is autonomous. Otherwise they would want to equip it with an Apple escapePod.
  • ...I'm actually following these days (next to the Space Shuttle).

    So is there any place I can place my bets on which team is going to win?

    I'd bet on Team Red [redteamracing.org] over the OS X but only because they have two entries ;)

  • Dupe? (Score:1)

    by kc0re ( 739168 )
    Dupe.

  • Automator! (Score:4, Funny)

    by robolemon ( 575275 ) <{moc.liamg} {ta} {yztren}> on Saturday July 23, 2005 @06:05PM (#13146351) Homepage
    Of course they built an autonomous vehicle with Mac OS X! It has Automator! Just drag and drop the Chess AI engine onto a car and you should be good to go!

    All this talk of coding, and they didn't even need to do any!

    Silly slashdotters!

  • Why the focus on OS? (Score:2, Insightful)

    by puusism ( 136657 )
    I don't see why the operating system is relevant for design like this. As far as this challenge goes, the innovation is in the application which drives the vehicle, not in the operating system. I believe that any modern OS would be stable enough and offer the relevant services (real-time scheduling etc.) for such an application. The same applies for coding environment mentioned in the article: there isn't an IDE or design model for OS X which is qualitatively better than an IDE or design model for any other

  • What's the big deal? (Score:1, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward
    What's the big deal? I'm sure some vehicles are powered by Linux and some by Windows, but there aren't any articles saying "Wow! robotic cars powered by windows!".

    Sounds like it's just another stupid PR campaign by Apple to try to convince people that Apple is on the edge of technology when if you look into it, the other OS's have been doing it for a while.

  • And the most amazing thing is... (Score:3, Funny)

    by SteeldrivingJon ( 842919 ) on Saturday July 23, 2005 @07:14PM (#13146657) Homepage Journal

    The most amazing thing is that they did it all in Interface Builder without any code.

  • Maybe... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Mechcozmo ( 871146 ) on Saturday July 23, 2005 @07:52PM (#13146833)
    It was because the 3 Minis use ~60W of power each? Also, the Minis are really light. Weight and power-savings might have influenced their decision.
  • ...Kleenex to wipe the oil off their hands after working on their car. That's not newsworthy either.
  • Announcer: . . . And at the 46-mile marker, Team Banzai has pulled ahead! Team Banzai has just passed Team Caltech to take the lead in the DARPA Grand Challenge! Look at it go!

    [...]

    Wait, what happening? Ladies and gentlemen, the Team Banzai car has suddenly frozen up. And it looks like there's a rainbow-colored wheel spinning above it!
  • Posted by Hisham [gobolinux.org] on 23:11 Saturday 23 July 2005
    from the penguins-for-brains dept.
    Anonymous Coward [livejournal.com] writes "Linux technology drives a new fully-autonomous vehicle developed for a major U.S. competition [newsforge.com]. From the article: 'While enterprise and desktop discussions grab headlines, Linux is quietly infiltrating into much more mundane applications -- such as running the on-board computers of the University of Central Florida's entry for the DARPA Grand Challenge autonomous, unmanned vehicle competition. Prof.

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