Robotic car race in California

Those brave roboticists from Stanford University have decided to tackle the final automotive frontier - commuting. The robotics group whose autonomous VW Touareg, Stanley (pictured), won the DARPA Grand Challenge desert race last year, are building a car that will drive itself at highway speeds from San Francisco City hall to downtown Los Angeles in October 2007.

Spectators gasped as cars with empty driver's seats pulled out of the starting blocks, steering wheels turning on their own, and headed into the neighborhood streets of a deserted air force base.
Stanford University's "Junior" was the first to pass the finish line, followed by cars outfitted by Carnegie Mellon University and Virginia Tech within the six-hour time limit.