The sort of thing that could be used to snoop out enemies or portray panthers in films

Oct 5, 2013 06:36 GMT  ·  By

Robots seem to be getting a lot more intricate and motion-capable lately, and Boston Dynamics is at the forefront of this trend, having released the WildCat, which only just falls shy of being lifelike.

Well, that's not totally true. After all, there's nothing alive about a huge amalgam of metal and wires, and there's definitely no feline grace to be found in the WildCat in terms of looks.

Nevertheless, the new robot from Boston Dynamics walks quite well on its fore legs, especially so given the very small surface that comes into contact with the ground.

More importantly, though, is that the WildCat can run, and pretty well too. The top speed is of 16 miles per hour, or 25 kilometers.

Boston Dynamics used funds from DARPA to develop the WildCat, and is intended for military/stealth/reconnaissance missions.

It will be quite some time before such use is possible though as WildCat isn't exactly quiet, at least for now.

Also, we doubt this is Boston Dynamics' final design. The WildCat barely looks like a cat after all, and there are benefits in trying to emulate the full body structure of a cat.

True, it might be a bit too much unnecessary complexity, but WildCat also cannot stay in its current, barrel-on-legs form.

Presumably, making those legs end in something more akin to paws than hooves will compensate for whatever changes in the center of gravity result from the overall design modifications.

In any event, the WildCat can already weather quite a few hazardous conditions. The videos embedded below show it traveling up a rough hill, traipsing through a snowstorm, trotting down a lane, and even galloping.

And since full motion is one of the hardest things to implement in a robot, we can tell than the BostonDynamic invention isn't too far from practical use.