2004 Results

The AI Motorvators proved you don't need a gigantic team and obscene amounts of money to get things done. We set the bar high, and made 100% of our first year goals. We knew it was unlikely that the race would be won in 2004, so we focused on a multi-year approach.

We made the decision to custom build a vehicle. Even given the extreme lack of time we'd rather show off an innovative total solution, rather than simply adapt a stock vehicle with off the shelf actuators and sensors. But then we are far from normal. What may be sensible or good enough for some teams will never be a guiding factor for us. As a result we now have a very capable vehicle, and time on our side. We have the luxury of simply making improvements, whereas some teams may be forced to consider a minimum 6-12 month lead time for vehicle construction.

Our primary goals were to make it to QID with a running vehicle, run it, and no matter what happened use that experience for the next race. It took every bit of time and resource to make it. We refused to accept excuses. We pulled endless all-nighters for weeks in pursuit of our goals; we lost some team members who were not up to the level of commitment required. No hard feelings, if it was easy anyone could do it. At QID we worked for 4 days around the clock, finally making a single qualification attempt 15 minutes before qualifying was over. It was the first opportunity we had to run the vehicle at all. That's how much of an effort it took.

Our single QID run was not enough to put us in the main event. That's OK; it was a huge success for us. We know exactly what we need to do for the next event. The A.I. Motorvators will return in 2005, every bit better for the determination and tenacity the team showed. At the time of this writing we've made significant breakthroughs and are well on our way to very dramatic and impressive vehicle capabilities.

Number of teams applying in 2004: 140+
Number of teams with approved tech papers: 46
Number of teams participating at QID: 22
Number of teams attempting qualification: 20
Number of teams starting race: 15
Farthest distance traveled: 7.2 miles

The AI Motorvators finished approx 19th overall.