Create A Driverless Car for the Pentagon and You Might End-up $2 mil Richer

The Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) will sponsor a contest of self-driving vehicles in order to stimulate development of cars that could be used in the battlefield without a driver or a remote control.

The challenge will take place next year, in November, when the vehicles will prove their ability to succeed in a six hours simulated military supply mission that will be held in an also simulated city with traffic jams, buildings and human beings.

"We believe the robotics community is ready to tackle vehicle operation inside city limits," DARPA director Tony Tether said in a statement.

The robo-cars, equipped only with a computer and several sensors, will have to face a 60-mile test road, avoiding collisions, obstacles, completing the mission without being damaged.

Unlike previous DARPA contests, in which the winner takes all, meaning $2 million, second-place finishers will get $500,000, while third place will receive $250,000.

Last year's winner, a VolkswagenSUV nicknamed Stanley, succeeded in crossing 132 miles of desert and surpassing other 32 contestant's vehicles. The car was created by Sebastian Thrun, a computer scientist from Stanford University. The researcher was awarded $2 million for his amazing smart-car.