3. Metal Walls

Robotic vehicles must pass between the two metal walls.

The vehicles will see their first set of obstacles just after exiting the starting chute. The two sheet metal walls are spaced apart with just enough room for the robot vehicle to pass through. The shiny metal tends to reflect laser signals given off by the LIDAR units used by many of the teams. In addition, at certain times of the day, cameras sensors used by other teams have a hard time dealing with the blinding sunlight reflecting off of the walls.

DARPA officials picking up the pieces after Jackbot rammed through the wall.

If that isn't enough, several orange traffic cones are placed around the walls to make things extra difficult. Many vehicles did not have trouble clearing the first set of obstacles, but other vehicles were not so fortune. A few vehicles hit the walls and stopped, while others hit the wall and kept going. MonsterMoto's vehicle, Jackbot, flattened the left wall after ramming into it head-on and driving THROUGH it. Blue Team's, GhostRider motorcycle, fell after colliding with a cone near the wall, but kept going after the self-righting struts popped out and lifted the robot back up.