One of the most visible gauges of the quality of a university's robotics program is how it finishes in the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's self-driving car races.

This car, Stanford University's "Junior," a modified Volkswagen Passat, participated in the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge at a former Air Force base in Oro Grande, Calif.

Although "Junior" crossed the finish line first, a rival car from Carnegie Mellon University was faster overall.

Photo by Stefanie Olsen/CNET

Caption by Caroline McCarthy