other tech: new robotic military vehicle, Crusher

Tweet "Crusher," a 6.5-ton, six-wheeled robotic vehicle designed to negotiate harsh terrain, will be presented along with its predecessor, "Spinner," at Carnegie Mellon's National Robotics Engineering Center on April 28, spokeswoman Anne Watzman said. Although Crusher is designed to carry weapons, the university has worked only on the machinery of the vehicle, Watzman said.

Crusher combines some capabilities of Spinner -- an invertible machine able to right itself -- with mobility and autonomy technology, such as the use of terrain data, developed under a program called PerceptOR.

Carnegie Mellon had two successful entries in the DARPA Grand Challenge. They were led by William Whittaker Here is a list of his current and completed projects

The current projects are

Robotic Search for Antarctic Meteorites: autonomous mobile robot and sensors to locate and recover meteorites in Antarctica

Pioneer: a mobile mapping and reconnaissance machine for structural assessment of the damaged Chernobyl nuclear power plant

RoboHost: robotic tour guides for museums

Demeter: mobile robot for unmanned grain harvesting

AutoLoad: technologies to improve productivity and reduce costs of excavation in earthmoving projects

Lunar Rover Initiative: a pair of mobile robots for the first privately funded lunar mission with telepresence for public participation and education

Carnegie Mellon Robotics Institute are leaders in robotics work Here is a directory of projects at the robotics institute with pictures