14 DAY TRIAL // An article published in today's issue of the International Journal of Robotics Research describes a so-called cheetah-cub robot that is almost as agile as a cat.
In all fairness, a cat did serve as an inspiration for this robot, so it's no wonder that the high-tech cheetah can cover distances of up to seven times its body length in just one second.
Springs were used to mimic the behavior of a cat's tendons, and small motors known as actuators were made to sit for muscles.
“This morphology gives the robot the mechanical properties from which cats benefit, that's to say a marked running ability and elasticity in the right spots, to ensure stability. The robot is thus naturally more autonomous,” scientist Alexander Sprowitz says.
Check out the video above to see the robo-kitten move across the floor and learn more about its make-up.
EurekAlert says that the robot was developed by EPFL's Biorobotics Laboratory. Although it might be a while before the cheetah-cub robot goes hunting gazelles in the savanna, its manufacturers claim that it can easily navigate courses that aren't completely flat.