Dodging other cars, giving the right of way and stopping at intersections are all standard rules of driving.
Little Ben, a Toyota Prius, obeys them all - without a human driver.
A robot-esque, self-sufficient vehicle, Little Ben made its mark as one of the six teams to complete the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's Grand Challenge on Saturday.
DARPA, part of the U.S. Department of Defense, works on developing new technology for the U.S. military.
Applicants in the yearly contest attempt to create a device able to navigate itself through a 60-mile urban course in less than six hours.
Little Ben, a first-time participant in the three-year-old competition, raced against 10 others like itself out of 89 original entrants. It is the creation of the Ben Franklin Racing Team, a group of Penn students and faculty led by Engineering professor Daniel Lee.
The car drove by itself in Victorville, Calif., while adhering to state driving laws.
Set up at the Southern California Logistics Airport in Victorville, the 60-mile course included 19 missions, such as merging into traffic and navigating traffic circles.
Other participating schools included Cornell University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Virginia Tech.
Carnegie Mellon University's team, Tartan Racing, won first place and the $2 million prize. Stanford University and Virginia Tech came second and third, respectively.
The main point of the challenge was to promote the development of autonomous robotic-vehicle technology that could potentially be used during wars in order to save human lives during dangerous missions.
"It's truly amazing," Engineering professor Vijay Kumar said, particularly in light of the fact that Penn's team, unlike many other participants, received no external funding.
And though the event took place on the west coast, about 50 supporters gathered in Levine Hall over the weekend to watch a live streaming of the race and to cheer Little Ben on.
Wharton and Engineering junior Matt Owens, who came out to show his support, said he was "excited to hear that they made it to the finals."
Kumar said the overall outcome of the race is also indicative of the current state of technology.
In the future, families may have just one car that will be able to drive by itself and take each member to and from a specified destination.
"We have to make cars smarter," he said, if we are to tackle the serious environmental problems facing the earth today.
