Tech Ranch Close-Up; Regolith Challenge Moves North

Regolith Excavation Challenge makes move north to Cal Poly - MSNBC (Care of Santa Maria Times) - The move from Santa Maria to Cal Poly is mentioned, and a possible future spot on the Discovery Channel is also suggested.

Building for the Moon - Santa Maria Times - A leader in last year's Challenge, Jim Greenhaw of Tech Ranch, is featured in this article. His excavator is described:

He’s installed a custom-made wire-mesh track for rolling, saying he believed other participants’ vehicles will employ wheels “which personally I don’t think is going work well.”

...

His excavator is a vertical conveyor, an addition installed two weeks before the competition.

“These buckets totally dominate. I might be able to dig 2 pounds a second,” he said.

NASA's robotic moon-dirt grubbing contest is go - The Register