Meet DEXTER, Team ENSCO’s 2005 entrant for the DARPA Grand Challenge (DGC).

DEXTER is a Deployable EXtreme Terrain Enabled Robot, custom-built specifically for the desert environment of the 2005 DGC course. Dexter’s desert racing frame (or chasis) was built by Lothringer Engineering and designed by Team ENSCO’s experts.

Team ENSCO, a top contender in the 2004 DARPA Grand Challenge, competed in the 2005 event, which was held in the Mojave Desert on a 132 mile route. Team ENSCO was among 40 teams selected as a semifinalist in the second annual Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Grand Challenge. DEXTER placed sixth out of 23 robotic vehicles competing in the final run of the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge.

DEXTER averaged the fastest speed up to the time of its forced elimination. With an average speed of just over 19 mph, DEXTER was on track to take the lead.

The 2005 Team ENSCO had many returning 2004 team members among its ranks. Gary Carr led the team and Brian Mee returned as the Team’s Co-Leader.