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DARPA's military bent was evident today with an "0700" opening ceremony. There was a soupcon of irony here, since DARPA had decided to make this a "non ops" day, pushing our involvement with the treacherous "Area A" back by about four days - not a bad outcome.

The phone rang at "0545". It was Janie: "Paul said you'd be up." We rolled out at 6 AM so Paul could make muster at "0630".

DARPA lined up the team leaders in the dark. The sun rose behind the dais as the ceremony began, but it was an anemic sun: tired and blood orange, the color of embers -- as if Wordsworth's "weary sun" had come back in the morning without rest.

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The opening ceremony was relatively quick and muted: national anthem, introduction of the team leaders, and a few welcoming words from Dr. Tether. DARPA had decided to table the "parade of robots" we remember from 2005, sacrificing in my opinion a stately photo op.

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We repaired to our pit area to ready the vehicle for its first "practice" and e-stop test: the first official performance for Tommy Jr.

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We formed up at the practice area at "0830" press and media were interviewing the participants.

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The e-stop test is a simple test to make sure that race officials can turn off rampant robots. It seems a simple thing, but our device two years ago was incredibly flaky, had to be replaced, and in Paul's perception, never worked correctly.

The first test was a start, then an immediate stop signal. I have to admit, I was a little nervous despite the simplicity - this was the onset of live competition. Paul took the robot out of pause, its amber light and siren broadcasting, it moved 10 feet and lurched to a stop. Light applause and a few gasps of relief.

I don't know if I can describe it well, but there is something both awesome and humbling to see these vehicles go into autonomous mode and start proceeding on their way, under their own power ... and I mean under the power of their own mental acuity ... even for a few meters.

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Step two: take the robot up to 15 mph and then stop it. For the first attempt at this task, after running about 50 or 60 meters, Tommy coasted to a stop. Professor Cahen was flustered - the vehicle did not brake. After some discussion and hubub -- race officials inadvertantly disabled the vehicle -- didn't stop it -- and thus the coast-down.

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Two more trials. DARPA officials were dissatisfied with the first. Officials sent a pause, then a stop. Since the pause was sent while the vehicle was accelerating - it was coasting up. We were given one final trial: hard stop only - and the vehicle ground to a stop on command.

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When the e-stop test was finally over, officials said "Team Jefferson, you have one minute left on your practice time." Didn't matter. Team Jefferson has waived all on-site practice in deference to the J.D. Pierce site. Too much set-up to operate in a square field. We "retreated" to our pit.

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Dr. Tether soon arrived with his camera and media crew to award our participatory medalions. He was gracious and very kind to honor us. We had our team picture taken by his agile photographress. At that point, Paul was ready to take the robot off the base for continued testing.

Official coin

Mark Marabella of Marabella productions stopped by the pit. Marabella is producing the reality series for Discovery Science. I asked Mark how things were going, and he seems pleased. He has three crews on the site and is getting lots of footage. Episodically, he is now thinking of pairing Team Jefferson with Cajun Bot team. He said that there was a lot of cerebral science in the competition, and that he was looking forward to getting into the race activities, and that Discovery was looking forward to the "action elements" in the competition. He's worried he won't get as much visual as he'd like on "Area B" - the part of the competition that wends through base neighborhoods with limited spectator access. He was actively working with DARPA for maximal access.

More on the competition and events: We only get schedules a day in advance because DARPA constantly adjusts schedules based on time and progress.

Tomorrow, Team Jefferson has a "command" performance at Area C: we are to have our robot there between noon and 5 PM, and we don't know when we'll be needed. I'll try to blog on our activities daily so you know what to anticipate.

On the competition, there are three testing areas. Area A tests some of the most devilish aspects of urban driving: left turns and merging into moving traffic.

Area C test some different basics: intersections, and roadblocks: the ability of the robot to engage in route re-planning.

Area B is the base neighborhood: the opportunity for the most complicated evolutions. Neighborhood streets, turns, intersections, parking, and a few other Gordian knots according to Dr. Tether. The base neighborhoods are blighted and stark - like a de-militarized zone. Our theory is that they have been used for war-games. A fitting context.

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We'll be seeing about 2 trials in each area over the course of the next week and after that, the "finals" which, according to Dr. Tether, will be full of new and unexpected trials and challenges.