The object
Red Whittaker led Carnegie Mellon's Tartan Racing team behind Boss, the autonomous Chevrolet Tahoe that safely completed the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge. Carnegie Mellon also credits him with more than 60 field robots, including a reconnaissance robot used before Three Mile Island cleanup work.
01
What Red did
Led the Carnegie Mellon team that built the Boss autonomous Chevrolet Tahoe and developed complete field-robot systems.
02
Why it matters
Boss's 2007 autonomous urban drive was a landmark demonstration that driverless vehicles could operate safely around traffic and other robots.
03
Living-status check
Carnegie Mellon's February 2026 expert directory lists Whittaker as Founders University Research Professor Emeritus and a field-robotics pioneer.