Press Release
- 2004
Carnegie Mellon’s Red Team Selects
ATI Technologies to Power 3D Mapping and Navigation for DARPA Challenge
ATI’s FireGL™ graphics boards
enable real-time terrain visualization and routing applications for off-road
autonomous vehicle race
Monday, March 8, 2004
MARKHAM, Ontario – ATI Technologies Inc. (TSX: ATY, NASDAQ:
ATYT) announced today that its FireGL™ workstation graphics
technology was selected by the Red Team, headed by Professor
William L. “Red” Whittaker
of the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, for
their entry in the $1 Million Grand Challenge. Carnegie Mellon’s
Red Team is using FireGL powered workstations for advanced terrain
visualization, route planning and vehicle simulation in the unmanned
off-road race for autonomous robotic vehicles sponsored by the
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
The Grand Challenge is an historic 210-mile off-road race for
unmanned vehicles from the Barstow, California area to just outside
of Las Vegas, Nevada. As many as 20 race teams will be given
the course details just two hours before the start of the event,
and will not be able to communicate with their vehicles once
the race begins.
The Red Team has been relying on advanced FireGL graphics technology
to develop and visualize extensive 3D terrain maps, forming a
massive database of potential race routings. The power and stability
of ATI’s FireGL graphics boards have helped the team to
create the most comprehensive and detailed map of the Mojave
Desert ever, giving the Red Team’s vehicle a distinct competitive
advantage during the ten hour race.
“ATI’s FireGL technology has enabled our mapping
team to rapidly process an immense amount of information, including
aerial and space imagery, GPS coordinates, and topographical
maps,” said Whittaker, Director of the Field Robotics Center
at Carnegie Mellon’s Robotics Institute. “By integrating
these various data sources, and utilizing the FireGL’s
onboard graphics memory, we can now easily create and manipulate
very detailed 3D maps of the course.”
On race day, the Red Team’s vehicle will maneuver autonomously,
using laser scanners, radar sensors and stereoscopic cameras
to continuously correct its steering and adjust its speed. Based
on the terrain data and its real-time visualization systems the
vehicle is free to decide on alternate routes as it avoids obstacles
and other vehicles.
“The ability of our FireGL workstation products to push
the boundaries of what has been done previously in the areas
of visualization and simulation will be uniquely valuable to
the Red Team and the Robotics Institute,” said Dinesh Sharma,
Director of ATI Workstation Products. “We are very excited
to be working with Carnegie Mellon, along with other technology
leaders on this groundbreaking event.”
The $1 Million Dollar DARPA Grand Challenge takes place on Saturday,
March 13, 2004, with a starting point near Barstow, California.
The Qualification, Inspection and Demonstration (QID) event will
be held March 8 - 12, 2004 at the California Motor Speedway in
Fontana, California. For more information on the Red Team, please
visit www.redteamracing.org or www.ati.com/online/redteam.
Copyright
2004 ATI Technologies Inc. All rights reserved. ATI and ATI
product and product feature names are trademarks and/or registered
trademarks of ATI Technologies Inc. All other company and product
names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their
respective owners. Features, pricing, availability and specifications
are subject to change without notice.
About ATI Technologies
ATI Technologies Inc. is a world leader in
the design and manufacture of innovative 3D graphics and digital
media silicon solutions. An industry pioneer since 1985, ATI is
the world’s foremost visual processor unit (GPU) provider
and is dedicated to deliver leading-edge performance solutions
for the full range of PC and Mac desktop and notebook platforms,
workstation, set-top and digital television, game console and handheld
markets. With 2003 revenues in excess of US $1.3 billion, ATI has
more than 2,200 employees in the Americas, Europe and Asia. ATI
common shares trade on NASDAQ (ATYT) and the Toronto Stock Exchange
(ATY).
Contact Information
For media or industry analyst support, visit our Web site
at http://www.ati.com .
Other ATI Contacts:
Tenille Kennedy, Consultant, Porter Novelli Canada, at (416) 422-7163, or tenille.kennedy@porternovelli.com
For Information:
Carrie Maynard,
Public Relations Specialist, at
(905) 882-2600, Ext. 8181 or cmaynard@ati.com
For investor relations support, please contact:
Janet Craig, Director, Investor Relations, ATI Technologies Inc., at (905) 882-2600,
Ext. 2631 or janet@ati.com
