Three Teams Suffer Broken 'Bots

Anyone following last year's X-Prize Cup in New Mexico had to be excited to watch the lunar lander competition, in which a craft designed and built by Armadillo Aerospace very nearly won part of a $2 million dollar NASA purse.

But they don't all work out. One of NASA's "Centennial Challenges" is a competition for robotic diggers, in the quest to find a machine which can excavate moon dirt samples using only 30 watts of power.

Any analysis of what's on the moon requires first digging some of that surface up, and moon dirt is made of small, interlocking particles which resist normal techniques. So, on Saturday, in a one-ton sandbox at the Santa Maria Fairpark in California, four teams met with their 'bots to do battle.

The rules require digging up a minimum of 150 kilograms, or about 330 pounds of simulated moon dirt, using a machine that weighs about a quarter that much, within a 30-minute time limit. Whichever bot excavates the most, wins $250,000.

The teams from Michigan, Missouri, and Rancho Palos Verdes, CA all broke before the 30 minutes was up. A robot entered by Technology Ranch of Pismo Beach finished the competition, but excavated less than half the minimum.

So...the $250,000 gets added to next year's prize, which will now be $750,000.

FMI: www.centennialchallenges.nasa.gov