"Cheetah" robot sets new speed record

(CBS) Engineering company Boston Dynamics released footage of its robot Cheetah in which they say the four-legged 'bot hits 18 mph, setting a new record for a running robot. 

The previous record, according to the Boston Globe, was 13.1 mph and was set in 1989 by MIT. 

Cheetah is being funded by the Maximum Mobility and Manipulation program of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA.

According to the company:

The current version of the Cheetah robot runs on a laboratory treadmill where it is powered by an off-board hydraulic pump, and uses a boom-like device to keep it running in the center of the treadmill. Testing of a free-running prototype is planned for later this year.

The robot's movements are modeled on real fast-running animals, and it even, the company says, flexes and un-flexes "its back on each step, much as an actual cheetah does."

According to the Globe, the company sees applications for the robot in disaster and emergency responses, "particularly over rough terrain."

[flexsf]

How amazing. The scientists created joints that replicate ball and socket, and hinge joints? The robots analytical gestures appear accurate. I had no idea that scientists are visual people who can understand the movements of one part to another part of a skeletal / muscular system.

[venusvegasvada]

Interesting and it looks like a fun way to spend your day.

Nothing here on the cost of the program though so I had to dig a little.

I found a blurb on it in DARPA's 2013 Budget Estimates.

They have the Cheeta R&D under the heading of "Reconfigurable Structures" on page 174 for DARPA's 2013 estimated budget report.

Or just download the pdf and search for "cheetah".

Funding:
2011: 15 million+
2012: 20 million
2013: 20 million+


Here's the link to the pdf from DARPA:

www.darpa.mil/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=2147484865

Granted there are other objectives in this funding but it's still one pricy kitty cat.

[RogerInHawaii]

I am not impressed. So it can run slowly on a perfectly smooth surface, with no turns. And they can run it faster as well. It's not much different than showing that a wheel can rotate quickly.

Put it in the real world on an uneven surface and have it make turns and I'll be impressed.