Scarab: CMU's Lunar Prospecting Robot
	Posted 24 Sep 2007 at 16:11 UTC by steve

CMU has announced their new lunar prospecting robot, called Scarab. The four-wheeled robot requires 175 watts of power under normal operating conditions and only 24 watts when idle. It is designed to survive the conditions at the Moon's southern pole, where temperatures reach 385 degrees below zero. Not only is the robot able to travel over the lunar surface like convention rovers, it is also a miniature drilling platform. The robot has a unique suspension that stablizes it during drilling, allows it straddle large rocks, and levels the robot while driving on steep slopes. More information on the robot is available from the CMU SCS press release or the CMU Lunar Rover Initiative website which also includes video of the Scarab in action.