Breaking News: All 15 autonomous ground vehicles in the 150-mile race (DARPA Grand Challenge) across the Mojave Desert failed within a few miles of the start today.

Carnegie Mellon University's military Humvee made 7.4 miles before getting off course and breaking an axle. Thought Humvees are indestructable.

7.4 miles is rather disappointing. And here is my theory why all teams failed. None of the participating Teams is from Japan. Japan is clearly the leader in Robots and autonomous systems. It would have been nice to see what a team from Japan could have done. Maybe something to consider for next year.

More details on AP story on Yahoo and on CNN.