The European Space Agency (ESA) has begun testing two mars robots named Bruno and Bradley.

The robots feature extreme manuverability and can rotate one wheel at a time if needed.  They can also move sideways like a crab.

The robots will also carry large payloads, be able to make decisions on their own and drill down up to six feet to take samples to analyze.

in 2005 the project was estimated to cost 650 million Euros, but now folks are saying it could cost double that.  The robots are expected to land on Mars in 2015 if they get enough funding.

Link via (BBC)