Insiders suspect that three teams from the California Institute of Technology, Carnegie Mellon University and Ohio State University (funded largely by Oshkosh Truck Corporation, a truck-maker) have the best chance of robotic victory.

ECONOMIST: MONITOR: Robots, start your engines | The

The latest episode in this unfolding story came just before the July 4th weekend, when longtime corporate raider Carl Icahn disclosed that he had amassed a 9.5 percent stake in Oshkosh Corporation, the big military truck maker.

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