Robot Jeep Conquers Pikes Peak

The autonomous Jeep, Spirit, has become the first driverless vehicle to reach the summit of Pike's Peak.

Spirit, the creation of Axion Racing, has already beat out many competitors in the DARPA Grand Challege desert race.

Spirit acheived this autonomous vehicle milestone one day after the annual Pikes Peak International Hill Climb race to the summit. The hill climb race has been run since 1916 and is the oldest auto race in the US. The course is 12.4 miles and goes up the mountain around harrowing curves for a rise of almost 5000 feet to the summit at 14,110 feet.


Spirit ran the course as a trial run for the inaugural Pikes Peak Robot Hill Climb to be run on September 23, 2006.

It took 90 years of auto racing before autonomous auto racing has taken hold. How long before the robot racers hold all the speed records?

Autonomous Vehicle First to Conquer Pikes Peak