Feeling up to the task of meeting an engineering challenge of grand proportions? Interested in fortune as well as international fame? Read on.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is moving forward with Grand Challenge ’05, “…a field test intended to accelerate research and development in autonomous ground vehicles that will save American lives on the battlefield.” Open to anyone, participants may include individuals such as students, inventors, and automotive enthusiasts; as well as industry, government, the armed services, and academia. What’s at stake? How about a $2 million prize?

All you have to do is create a completely autonomous ground vehicle (no human intervention allowed) that will finish the designated route most quickly within 10 hours. The designated route may include paved and unpaved roads, trails, and off-road desert areas—all featuring natural and man-made obstacles. What sorts of obstacles? How about ditches, berms, washboard, sandy ground, standing water, rocks and boulders, narrow underpasses, construction equipment concrete safety rails, power line towers, barbed wire fences and cattle guards. According to DARPA, the route can be traversed by a commercial 4×4 pickup truck. (Detailed information can be found here.)

Sounds easy, right? Well, no, especially considering that no team entry successfully completed last year’s Grand Challenge. While I’ve always admired the engineering behind Battlebots, even creations such as Diesector and Biohazard aren’t even in the same ballpark of meeting the Grand Challenge. Think Overbot, instead—a highly modified Grand Challenge vehicle based on a commercial, 6-wheel-drive Polaris Ranger Series 11. Are you up to the challenge?