A four-legged robot known as the Cheetah lived up to its name on Monday, setting a new land speed record for legged robots by running at 18 mph (29 kph) on a treadmill at a laboratory in Massachusetts, its developer said.
Cheetah bot Image: YouTube
Cheetah bot Image: YouTube
The Cheetah, being developed by Boston Dynamics with funding
from the US military's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency,
is part of a program aimed at achieving theoretical and
experimental advances in the science of robotics.
The Cheetah broke a land speed record for legged robots that was
set in 1989 when a two-legged robot at the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology ran at a speed of just over 13 mph (21 kph), Boston
Dynamics said in a statement.
Dr. Alfred Rizzi, chief robotics scientist at Boston Dynamics,
said the goal is ultimately to get the Cheetah running much faster
and in an outdoors environment.
"We designed the treadmill to go over 50 mph (80 kph) but we
plan to get off the treadmill and into the field as soon as
possible," Rizzi said in a statement. "We really want to understand
the limits of what is possible for fast-moving robots."
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