Your self-driving car is closer than you think.

This past weekend, DARPA held its second grand challenge: A 132-mile race through the Mojave desert where the drivers are not humans, but computers. Last year, the best robotic vehicle only traveled 7 miles. It was hoped that one of the teams would finish this year, but instead, four teams completed the entire course.

This is amazing. The US Army wants to have 1/3 of its vehicles driver-less by 2015, and it looks like they will get it. I really expect self-driving cars on US streets by that time and probably even sooner in other countries with looser liability laws.