Military 'Cheetah' Breaks Robot Sprinting Record

DARPA prototype can go 18mph
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 6, 2012 3:20 PM CST

Someday, the US may fight wars with an army of creepy robotic cheetahs. That's right, a Pentagon-funded robo-cheetah has been successfully tested, setting a new land-speed record for a machine with legs, the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency has announced. The cheetah hit a speed of 18mph, which makes it capable of outrunning even the fastest human, notes MSNBC.

Model after an actual cheetah, it uses its back to increase its stride with each step. "It's the first time we've had a robot that gallops," says the head of Boston Dynamics, which made the bot. The robot currently runs on a treadmill, connected by wires to an external hydraulic power pump, but a free-standing version should be tested later this year. (More DARPA stories.)

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