Yahoo Autos Step Aside Ken Block, Stanford Invents an Autonomous Electric Drift Car
On the eve of the day when the fictional Marty McFly went back to the future in “Back to the Future II,” Stanford University’s automotive lab unveiled its own MARTY, a heavily modified DeLorean car capable of drifting – maintaining sideways motion while traveling in a circle – without a driver. The project is part of Stanford’s ongoing research into automotive safety and autonomous driving systems.
MARTY, which stands for “Multiple Actuator Research Test bed for Yaw control,” was unveiled at Stanford Tuesday evening, with a panel featuring the project’s collaborators and hosted by Jamie Hyneman of “Mythbusters.” After airing a video (embedded below), MARTY rolled out of its trailer amid lights and fog.
Hyneman appeared on stage with Stanford professor Chris Gerdes, students John Goh and Shannon McClintock, and Chris Heiser of Renovo Motors, the company that supplied the electric drive components for the project.
Mythbuster Jamie Hyneman appears on stage with the Stanford team responsible for MARTY. (Wayne Cunningham/CNET)
