They had to start somewhere. But progress was too slow for years. Tony Tether at DARPA came up with the DARPA Grand Challenge because he thought the DARPA-funded automatic driving projects needed a serious kick in the ass. It worked.
(The reason it worked is not well known. Some major research universities were quietly told by DARPA that if they didn't do well in the Grand Challenge, their DARPA funding would be cut off. Suddenly entire CS departments were being devoted to automatic driving. Levels of effort went from 5 people to over 100, and not at DARPA's expense.)
(The reason it worked is not well known. Some major research universities were quietly told by DARPA that if they didn't do well in the Grand Challenge, their DARPA funding would be cut off. Suddenly entire CS departments were being devoted to automatic driving. Levels of effort went from 5 people to over 100, and not at DARPA's expense.)