Three weeks ago we featured a post on Crawling Robots, and already they have taken a step further (so to speak).
Boston Dynamics, creators and developers of all things robotic, have built a machine called the ‘Cheetah’, capable of exceeding Usain Bolt’s record-breaking speed of 44.7 km/h.
The Cheetah has already galloped its way into the record books, setting the top speed for four-legged automatons. The robot was tested on a treadmill, and started out slowly, hopping on its four pincer-like limbs. At its top speed, the Cheetah reached 45.5 km/h, which is 0.8 km/h faster than Bolt’s record.
(See the video here)
Its development was funded by the USA DARPA’s Maximum Mobility and Manipulation program. Boston Dynamics described the Cheetah as having an “articulated back that flexes back and forth on each step, thereby increasing its stride and running speed, much like the animal does.”
The only limitation is that the Cheetah must be attached to a power cable in order to operate. So while it may be slightly alarming, it won’t be chasing anyone, any time soon.