Body
WHEREAS, Dr. William L. "Red" Whitaker is the Fredkin Research Professor of Robotics at the Robotics Institute of Carnegie Mellon University. He is also Director of the Field Robotics Center which he founded in 1986; and,
WHEREAS, his research centers on mobile robots in field environments such as work sites and natural terrain; computer architectures to control mobile robots; modeling and planning for non-repetitive tasks; complex problems of objective sensing in random or dynamic environments; and integration of complete robot systems; and,
WHEREAS, Carnegie Mellon Universities Red Team, directed by Fredkin Research Professor William L. "Red" Whittaker, in collaboration with his students, colleagues and corporate sponsors are preparing to compete in the DARPA Grand Challenge, an unmanned, off-road race for Robots that will take place on March 13, 2004; and,
WHEREAS, robots must travel 210 torturous miles from Barstow California through the Mojave Desert to Las Vegas, Nevada on their own. Competitors will learn the exact route two hours before the race begins; and,
WHEREAS, once the race starts, no human intervention is allowed. The robots must sense, plan and make the strategic decisions necessary to drive the course and beat the competition the competition. They'll have 10 hours to reach their goal. The team whose robot finishes first in the allotted time will receive a 1 million cash prize, and if there is no winner the race will be run again in future years.
title
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Council of the City of Pittsburgh does hereby commend the Dr. Whitaker and members of the Red Team for their contributions to technology here in the City of Pittsburgh and beyond; and,
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Council of the City of Pittsburgh does hereby declare Saturday March 13, 2004 as "Dr. William L. Whitaker Day" here in the City of Pittsburgh.