In the 2004 DARPA Grand Challenge, the best vehicle traveled only 7.5 miles

DARPA’s own retrospective on the Grand Challenge states that in the 2004 event “none finished the course - the top-scoring vehicle traveled only 7.5 miles” and “the prize went unclaimed.” The course was roughly 142 miles across the Mojave Desert, and the prize was 1 million dollars. One year later, in 2005, five vehicles finished a 132-mile course.