Siringe

The DARPA (acronym meaning Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency , is " arranges for the research projects advanced of défense") is an agency of the Department of Defense of the United States which is charged with the Research and development the new technologies intended for a military use. Until today, the DARPA was at the origin of the development of many technologies which had considerable consequences in the whole world of which in particular the Data-processing networks (in particular ARPANET which ended up becoming Internet) and the NLS which was at the same time the first system Hypertexte and an important precursor of the Graphical interfaces become omnipresent nowadays.

The origins history of such a service off goes up with the installation as from 1940 of the National Defense Research Committee then Office Scientific Research and Development.

Since its birth the name of this agency somewhat varied. In the beginning, it was right ARPA, then the March 23rd 1972, D (for Defense ) there was acollé, the February 22nd 1993, the name is become again ARPA, then finally the November 11th 1996, it is become again DARPA.

The DARPA was created in 1958 in answer to the launching of the Soviet satellite Sputnik which took place in 1957 and with for objective making so that the technology of the American army remains higher than that of its enemy.

Projects initiated by the DARPA

Although its mandate is mainly soldier, several of its projects found applications more spread in the civil field. One notes, for example:

  • ARPANET, which became then Internet
  • the system of positioning GPS
  • research on the applications of the holographic memory.

Great Challenge

See also: DARPA Great Challenge

In 2004 and 2005 the DARPA organized the Grand Challenge , an open competition of autonomous terrestrial vehicles, in the Désert of the Nevada. The team which will succeed in building a machine able to cross in a definite time a certain distance without human intervention, will gain a price of 2 million dollars.

Whereas during the edition 2004, no vehicle had succeeded in finishing the race, the following year, on 23 vehicles, 5 arrived at the end, including 4 within fixed at less than 10 a.m. Gaining was the vehicle of the team of engineers of the Université of Stanford in California, " Stanley ", a Volkswagen Tuareg improved. This last traversed the 210 kilometers in 6:54, at the mean velocity of 30 km/h.

The finished edition 2005, the director of the DARPA Tony Tether, indicated that it was not very probable that an edition 2006 is organized. Because the goal of the Grand Challenge was to accelerate the development of these technologies, to see them used in viable applications, in particular within the army. What is made thing. But the DARPA decided to organize a new competition in November 2007 but this time Ci in urban environment, the DARPA Urban Challenge .

Random links:República | Subcontracting | Sigillography | Large New York | Sisters of Notre-Dame de Namur | Proclamation of the twelve