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• CMU wins $2 million in urban robot race

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PITTSBURGH--Carnegie Mellon University's 14th annual "mobot"--that is, mobile robot--races took place Friday on a downhill campus course that stretched from Doherty Hall to Wean Hall. Robotic contestants had to be small enough to squeeze through 14 gates that were 18 inches high by 18 inches wide.

The gates had to be entered in the correct sequence, which was relatively easy for the first eight because all the mobot had to do was follow a white line. But for the last five, the white line branched off and the bot had to be smart enough to make the correct choices. Gate locations were announced 48 hours before the race.

Credit: Declan McCullagh/CNET News.com

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