universities and large corporate interests such as CMU teaming with GM, Stanford and Braunschweig University of Technology teaming with Volkswagen, Virginia Tech teaming with Torc Robotics, Oshkosh Truck, Honeywell, Raytheon, Caltech, Autonomous Solutions, Cornell, and MIT. One of the few independent entries in Track A was the Golem Group. Basic rules for 2007 Vehicle must be stock or have a documented safety record. Vehicle must obey the California state driving laws. Vehicle must be entirely autonomous, using only the information it detects with its sensors and public signals such as GPS. DARPA will provide the route network 24 hours before the race starts. Vehicles will complete the route by driving between specified checkpoints. DARPA will provide a file detailing the order the checkpoints must be driven to 5 minutes before the race start. Vehicles may “stop and stare” for at most 10 seconds. Vehicles must operate in rain and fog, with GPS blocked. Vehicles must avoid collision with vehicles and other objects such as carts, bicycles, traffic barrels, and objects in the environment such as utility poles. Vehicles must be able to operate in parking areas and perform U-turns as required by the situation. Initial site visits In June/July 2007, 53 teams (see list below) were notified that they qualified for DARPA Site visits. Those teams that were successful in these evaluations moved on to a national qualifying event that took place in October 2007. Semi-finalists On August 9, 2007, after completing the site visits, DARPA announced the 36 semi-finalists selected to participate in the Urban Challenge National Qualification Event (NQE) that took place October 26–31, 2007. Originally, the top 20 teams from that event were scheduled to proceed to the final competition on November 3, however only 11 teams were selected. The 36 semifinalists were: National Qualification Event The National Qualification Event for the 2007 challenge occurred between October 26 and 31, 2007. 35 teams were selected to participate in this semifinal round. The qualifying rounds included 3 areas: A, B, and C. Area A was a test of the robots' ability to merge. A 2-way loop of human traffic (provided by professional stunt drivers) surrounded a one-way road running from one side of the loop to the other. Robots had to go from the one-way road, make a left turn into traffic, follow the loop 180 degrees, and make another left turn onto the one-way road again. Robots