Let's face it, we're doomed as a species, because one day, Boston Dynamics is gonna unleash its army of DARPA-funded droids and wipe us all out. The company's sprinting robot, Cheetah, has now broken the land-speed record for humans, clocking speeds of 29.3 miles per hour, meaning not even the 27.79mph Usain Bolt can escape. Fortunately for us, it's got a fatal flaw; a balance problem that means it can only remain upright with a boom keeping it steady. Unfortunately, that's not going to be a problem for long, since field-testing on an independently upright version begins early next year. We'd wish you sweet dreams, but, you know, we're too busy building an underground shelter.
Continue reading Boston Dynamics' Cheetah robot will hunt you down faster than any person (video)
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Boston Dynamics' Cheetah robot will hunt you down faster than any person (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 Sep 2012 12:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Remember the Cheetah-bot that was featured here a couple of months ago? It looked pretty scary as it galloped on the treadmill with its spindly legs moving at an astounding 18 miles per hour. It might have looked as scary as heck then (it still does now), but you can’t deny it was an impressive feat that Boston Dynamics achieved with the support of DARPA.
When the Cheetah reached 18 mph during its run last March, it broke the land speed record for legged robotic machines. The Boston Dynamics team decided that that wasn’t enough, so they tweaked a couple of things and now the Cheetah is faster (and scarier) than ever. Breaking the record that it had previously set, the leggy robot can achieve a peak speed of 28 mph. Yes, that’s right folks, it’s now even faster than the fastest man in the world, Olympian Usain Bolt, who reached 27.78 mph during a 20-meter sprint.
Check out a video of the Cheetah doing its thing after the jump. It’s both scary and impressive at the same time.
VIA [ Dvice ]