DARPA's Cheetah sets new land speed record for legged robots

Boston - The Cheetah, a four-legged robot commissioned by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the research arm of the U.S. Dept. of Defense, set a new land speed record for legged robots of 18 mph on Monday.

The Cheetah was developed by Boston Dynamics and broke the previous land speed record for robots of 13 mph, set in 1989 by a two-legged robot also designed by Boston Dynamics. The Cheetah set the new record by running on a treadmill at a laboratory in Massachusetts. Times Live reported Dr. Alfred Rizzi, chief robotics scientist at Boston Dynamics, said the plan is for the robot to increase its speed to 70 mph and to operate outdoors. The robot is not a gimmick though, but designed with the specific purpose of being used in warfare. It has been developed, as CNN report in the video below, to zig-zag and evade capture. Boston Dynamics also successfully designed a Robotic Mule capable of carrying a weight of 300 lbs over 13 miles.