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First Place - The Red Team Hummer

We call our vehicle "Sandstorm". This name properly conveys the aggressive personality of our vehicle. We will be racing across desert in a modified military surplus HMMWV (High Mobility Multi-purpose Wheeled Vehicle). Sandstorm will infact kick up a lot of desert sand as it moves its steel frame from Los Angeles to Las Vegas!

Our team is the "Red Team". For similar reasons, we felt that Red is the color that best conveys the personality of our vehicle and this team. It is also a respectful acknowledgement and gesture of appreciation to our team leader, Dr. Whittaker, who is known to all of us by his nickname "Red". We've heard that he once had red hair (one can see what countless all-nighters building incredible robots within incredible time constraints will do to a man).

Sandstorm is arguably the most advanced autonomous ground vehicle ever built. It's quite an accomplishment when you consider that the average age of our team members is less than 25 years old.

Sandstorm was a bit of a "fixer upper". After months of technical planning without a vehicle platform, we were elated to finally obtain our ship of the desert. The vehicle arrived at our Field Robotics Center laboratory/workshop in September 2003. As quickly as possible, it needed to be cleaned up and mechanically reconfigured. We rolled up our sleeves and got to work!

Original Vehicle Specs

Length - 15 feet (4.57 meters)
Width - 7.08 feet (2.16 meters)
Weight - 5,200 pounds (2359 kilograms)
Height - 6.00 feet (1.83 meters) reducible to 4.5 feet (1.37 meters)
Engine - V8, 6.2 litre displacement, fuel injected diesel, liquid cooled, compression ignition
Horsepower - 150 at 3,600 RPM
Transmission - 3 speed, automatic
Transfer case - 2 speed, locking, chain driven
Electrical system - 24 volt, negative ground, 60 amps
Brakes - Hydraulic, 4-wheeled disc
Fording depth without preparation - 2.5 feet (76.2 centimeters)
with deep water fording kit - 5 feet (1.5 meters)
Fuel type - Diesel
Fuel capacity - 25 gallons (94.63 liters)
Range - 350 miles (563.15 kilometers) highway...more