Stanford Racing Team · research vehicle
Stanley
A diesel Volkswagen Touareg with five roof lidars, GPS, a camera and seven Pentium M computers running Linux, built to cross the desert with no one inside.
- Price
- —research vehicle, not sold
- Autonomy
- DriverlessHow it runs
- Driverless
- TestingSince 2005-10-08
- Fleet
- —Not published
- Speed
- —Not published
- Range
- —Not published
Why it matters
Won the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge and its $2 million prize, covering the 212 km desert course in 6 h 53 min on 8 October 2005.
Real-world use
Now in the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.
Maker
Stanford Racing TeamCompanyHow it drives
Fleet and city figures move fast; each carries its date and who reported it.
- Driverless status
- Driverless tests only
- Where it runs
- DARPA Grand Challenge course, California/Nevada desert
- Driverless since
- 2005-10-08
- Rides, miles or loads
- 212 km in 6 h 53 min at an average 30.7 km/h (DARPA, 2005)
Public attention
A historic robot: no longer sold or in use, so it is not ranked against current vehicles.
- 1,853 views of its Wikipedia article in the last 90 days (Stanley (vehicle))
- No recent press stories listed yet
Measures how much people read and write about a robot, not how good it is. Measured 2026-10-14; same method for every robot. How it is measured
What’s inside
No component details published yet.
- Movement
- Wheeled base
- How it runs
- Fully autonomous. Does its job with nobody at the controls.
Lineage
Every Stanford Racing Team (Stanford University) with Volkswagen ERL vehicle in order.
Made, sold and where
No production or sales figures published yet.
- Price
- Not publishedresearch vehicle, not sold
- How to get one
- No official buying page found
Side by side with its peers
Picked by the same rules for every robot: another maker’s robot that moves the same way, is at the same stage and does at least one of the same main jobs, first shown within two years. Closer size and price rank higher. How we choose
| Measure | StanleyStanford Racing Team (Stanford University) with Volkswagen ERL |  H1ghlanderCarnegie Mellon University Red TeamSame job: DARPA Grand Challenge · Both on wheels · Both past robots |  SandstormCarnegie Mellon University Red TeamSame job: DARPA Grand Challenge · Both on wheels · Both past robots |
|---|---|---|---|
| First shown | 2005-10-08 | 2005-10-08 | 2005-10-08 |
| Status | Retired | Retired | Retired |
| Height | — | — | — |
| Weight | — | — | — |
| Joints | — | — | — |
| Speed | — | — | — |
| Payload | — | — | — |
| Battery | — | — | — |
| Price | — | — | — |
Sources
Figures come from a published paper. Every link below backs something on this page.
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