Billed as a race favorite, Carnegie Mellon University's Tartan Racing team is living up to its reputation as a robotics powerhouse.

Tartan Racing's robotic car, a tricked-out Chevrolet Tahoe named "Boss," was the first vehicle to qualify for the Urban Challenge finals to be held tomorrow.

As many as 20 self-driving vehicles -- but likely fewer -- will qualify to compete for $3.5 million in prize money, including $2 million for first place. The race will be held at the former George Air Force Base in Victorville, Calif.

In recent days, Boss successfully completed trials that included driving in two-way traffic, navigating through intersections and crossing the roadway against traffic without human assistance.

Save for a few correctable glitches, including one in which Boss mistook a cloud of dust for a roadway obstacle, the vehicle performed up to expectations.

"Our robot looked good," said Chris Urmson, Tartan Racing's director of technology. "The good news is we found some problems and fixed them."

The race, sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency, serves to develop battlefield technology that can save lives, but with applications for everyday driving.

In the finals, qualifying vehicles must complete a 60-mile mission through a mock city environment within six hours. Abiding by traffic laws and safety regulations is as important as speed in completing the race, DARPA officials have said.

During qualifying trials the past week, Boss performed so well DARPA officials excused it from its remaining run, then later announced it as the first finalist.

"It's wonderful," Dr. Urmson said. "It validates our approach. We thought we had a great robot, and the government confirmed that we have a very good robot."

He described the competition as intense and the technical ingenuity on display as "fantastic."

Teams from Stanford, Cornell and Virginia Tech universities, one from the University of Pennsylvania and Lehigh University, and another from Braunschweig, Germany, also made the finals. Twelve of 36 teams so far have been eliminated.

"Our team is excited," Dr. Urmson said. "Everyone has been working the last year and a half and are seeing the fruits of their labors being demonstrated."