Cheetah robot outpaces Usain Bolt in setting new robotic land speed record

Mhhh, good work, they are getting there, but it won't be the real thing until the hydraulic pump comes on-board.

"In its current version, Cheetah is powered by an off-board hydraulic pump" - well, I can understand off-board power supply because batteries are not that good yet and THE REST of technology of robotics should continue developing because batteries WILL become better, but what's the point of developing something which can not function without most essential of its part being somewhere close connected with pipes?

Interesting, but it looks like the black n yellow beam that is attached is giving it stability. If it could achieve this speed balancing itself, I would be properly impressed.

More so, if it could do it with it's own power supply, even if only for a short burst of time.

Interesting, but too unstable looking to be very practical in my opinion.

Quadruped is not at all ideal, but just what we are used to.

Any decent attempt with robotics should have at least 6 legs, and maybe 8.

Cool, but I'll be a whole lot MORE impressed when its propulsion system is entirely on-board. Granted, the tether does look slack, so it's probably not stabilizing the gizmo.

Some part falls off at 0.13 / 0.14. Imagine what would happen in rough terrain.

Can it make corrections based on terrain and moving targets at that speed like animals and humans can?

Exit foot, to the left, at about 0:14.

The first thing I notice is that the left and right feet are operating in sync with each other. No animal actually runs this way. Springboks and similar animals use all four legs together in hops. But generally, animals use each leg separately. Well, not really seperately -- in sequence. The way I like to imagine it is to imagine a wheel. The wheel has four spokes, all on the same side of the wheel, equally spaced for the basic configuration. I think that should be the goal.

Also, add wrists and ankles. There need not be power to flex these joints. They can function in a springlike fashion. Use something like Oscar Pistorius used in the Olympics.

The cheetah perhaps shouldn't be designed to run faster than the average human, since someone is going to need to run alongside it holding the tether, power supply, hydraulic pump equipment, while someone else will need to run alongside it to hold the controller arm. It's a nice experiment, but still has a long way to go.

Ah, Laura, then I guess you haven't heard about the CSV (Cheetah Support Vehicle) being developed for just that purpose. It's the size of a tank, contains a massive power generator, and supports the Cheetah with a large boom. Goes 30 mph, so no worries.

Arachnid model would be more effective.

Was it drug tested for being a cheater? Couldn't resist :)

meh, unimpressive. let me know when all the thethers and stuff isn't there, because that's just pure cheating.

Very impressive.

You're looking at the Wright Brothers version of flight on a small budget.

Imagine what the SR-71 version will be in 30 years. No one will be out-running that.

Stagger, I think the Wright Brothers had a small budget. DARPA doesn't have small budgets, or they may be stingy with certain projects. I will be impressed when it can beat ursain bolt in the standing 100m.

Hang on doesn't someone have a donkey that can at least stand up, or that is DARPA again?

Next for a robotic racehorse which can win the Kentucky Derby.

I dont understand why they dont simply map the movements of what ever animal they want, plotting how it moves and program it accordingly. I know game designers do this for advance game characters. Simply start with what is know, and work from there with an adaptive/intuitive system.

work on basic fluid movements, and speed will come later. Otherwise y our wasting time.

Max Gallo has the best post here. As for the others, gee whiz I am pretty sure they explored some of the options mentioned and as for the tether I suspect it is just part of natural progression.

I'm sure those who have to wear prosthetic limbs are glad that some inventors/manufacturers released their early imperfect models.

It's difficult to go from an idea to the final solution (if there is such a thing) in the first iteration. Speaking as a robotics engineer I think it's a great effort and I'm sure they are looking forward to perfecting issues. Wait a minute I'm not a robotics engineer? Oh well, same statement applies.

I'm glad Max Gallo didn't resist, great bit of subtle humour.

Change the programming and run the belt the other way and see how it works.

It's built like a cat but they're running it in reverse.