HOME STRETCH: Stanley finished in 6:53:58. David Orenstein

One Volkswagen Touareg, seven hours, 132 miles: robotics history.

Stanley, the Stanford Racing Team’s autonomous robotic car, became the first vehicle to successfully finish the DARPA Grand Challenge October 8. With a time of 6:53:58, Stanley averaged 19.1 miles per hour over the off-road course in the desert southwest of Las Vegas.

Five of 23 finalists completed this year’s Grand Challenge, the second such race sponsored by the federal Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Stanford’s modified Touareg earned a $2 million prize—and proved that cars can indeed drive themselves. “The impossible has been achieved,” says team leader Sebastian Thrun, an associate professor of computer science.

A fuller account of the competition will appear in the next issue of STANFORD.