AbstractThe University of Colorado at Denver robotics society is constructing an autonomous ground vehicle (AGV) capable of accomplishing the Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) competition objectives. The design presented features an engineering focus on a statistical, vision based discrete‐time control system optimized for an exterior robotic vehicle. A simple robust strategy incorporates ultrasonic ranging to make this vehicle capable of negotiating the features presented in the autonomous challenge. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.