DARPA have released footage of a legged robot that has broken the land-speed record for legged robots. The video shows the robotic quadruped, which has been dubbed the ‘Cheetah’, running on a treadmill that eventually attains a speed of 18 miles per hour (29km per hour), breaking the previous record of 13.1 miles per hour.
The robot is based on the movements of real animals and has the ability to flex its spine, allowing it to increase or decrease speed.
The Cheetah forms part of DARPA’s Maximum Mobility and Manipulation (M3) program and is intended to be used for unspecified military applications. Whatever it is eventually used for, it will probably be terrifying to infantry. DARPA is reportedly hoping to test a free-running version of the Cheetah later this year.
Source: CNET
