A team of boffins is planning to use Nvidia’s Tegra 3 chips in an experimental lunar rover that will should allow it to snatch Google’s $30 million Lunar X-Prize.

Synergy Moon is working on a couple for designs with scientist Martin Peniak, who helped develop the Mars Rover Simulator. The rover will be autonomous and it will be programmed using Nvidia’s CUDA technology.

The Tesla Surveyor design is rather straightforward affair, with a compact spherical body and two high definition cameras for stereoscopic vision, just to make sure it doesn’t bump into Alan Shepard’s golf club. The Tesla Prospector is a somewhat larger, more traditional design that takes its cue from previous lunar rovers.

In addition, the Prospector will deploy several “microbots” that will carry out specialized scientific and artistic projects.

More here.