By Peter Weiss
Demonstrating unprecedented prowess in robotics and artificial intelligence, five unmanned, autonomous vehicles last weekend dashed all the way across a rugged, 210-kilometer stretch of the Mojave Desert.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2005/10/5350.jpg?resize=300%2C210&ssl=1)
Eighteen other vehicles also began the off-road race near the California-Nevada border on Saturday morning, Oct. 8, but fell victim to such difficulties as mechanical breakdowns, sensor failures, and computer glitches.