Behind the scenes on Team Explorer’s practice run at Microsoft for the DARPA SubT Urban Challenge

One of the ways Microsoft trains autonomous systems is participating in research focused on solving real-world challenges, like aiding first responders in hazardous scenarios. This week, our collaborators at Carnegie Mellon University and Oregon State University, collectively named Team Explorer, are demonstrating tech breakthroughs in this area as they compete in the Feb 18-27, 2020 DARPA Subterranean (SubT) Urban Challenge in Elma, Washington. The team is looking for another win after taking first place in round one of the DARPA SubT Challenge, the Tunnel Circuit, in August 2019. The competition continues with the Cave Circuit later in 2020, wrapping up with a final event incorporating all three underground environments in 2021. Eleven multidisciplinary teams from wide-ranging fields are competing while innovating breakthrough technologies in autonomy, perception, networking, and mobility for underground environments. Autonomous systems are part of a new class of AI powered systems that go b