PITTSBURGH -- The Crusher -- a 6½-ton, six-wheeled unmanned combat vehicle -- was unveiled Friday.

As the Crusher rolled out, the crowd went wild at Carnegie Mellon's National Robotics Engineering Center.

The excitement was over the 13,000-pound metal machine designed to protect American soldiers by sneaking into areas they should not.

"We believe in our hearts that these are going to good purposes someday, that these will be protecting our soldiers in the field," said Crusher director John Bares.

The Crusher is the latest prototype of unmanned combat vehicles, like the Spinner, that came out a few years before.

The Crusher can race through a ravine, mow through mud, climb a wall and clear boulders.

The U.S. Army hopes the Crusher one day will be used in the battlefield to pick up wounded soldiers, deliver supplies or scout ahead of soldiers.

For more information, visit www.rec.ri.cmu.edu.