UnmannedVehicle
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Carnegie Mellon's "Crusher" military bot getting $14 million upgrade
Carnegie Mellon's so-called "Crusher" unmanned military vehicle already had quite a bit going for it in its previous incarnation, but it now looks to set to expand its robotized arsenal even further, courtesy of a $14.4 million grant from the Army. According to the university's National Robotics Engineering Center, the updated bot will make use of the "latest suspension, vehicle frame, and hybrid-electric drive technologies to improve upon its predecessor's performance" while also promising to, somewhat ominously, "push the envelope for autonomous and semi-autonomous operation." That the NREC says, should allow the bot to begin working alongside troops in five or ten years, with it initially confined to convoy roles before it puts its autonomous skills to use in "tactical" missions.[Via CNET Military Tech]
NASA planning methane-sniffing rocket plane for Mars mission
It's often been said that where there's water there's life, but NASA now looks to be seeing if the same can also be said of good 'ol methane, with New Scientist reporting that researchers at the agency have drawn up plans for a rocket plane that could one day sniff out sources of the gas on Mars. If it's given the go ahead, the plane would parachute down to Mars before being cut loose at an altitude of 1.5 kilometers, when the plane's rockets would kick it send it skimming across the Martian surface. On board sensors would then be able to detect methane at levels as low as a few parts per billion, as well as determine the source of the gas, which some speculate could be living micro-organisms. Of course, there's no indication of when that might take place, with the plane already failing to make the shortlist for NASA's 2011 Mars Scout mission.
