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DARPA's Robo-Cheetah Is Now Faster Than Usain Bolt

I really want to get excited about the DARPA-funded robot that's faster than any man on Earth. But then I imagine it's chasing me.

I really want to get excited about the DARPA-funded robot that’s faster than any man on Earth. But then I imagine it’s chasing me.

The Boston Dynamics Cheetah just clocked a 28.3 miles per hour sprint on a treadmill, and it’s heading outdoors soon. At that speed, it could edge out the world’s fastest man, Usain Bolt in a dead sprint. (Bolt peaked at 27.78 miles per hour in his world record setting 100 meter dash back in 2009.) "To be fair, keep in mind that the Cheetah robot runs on a treadmill without wind drag and has an off-board power supply that it does not carry," admitted Boston Dynamics in a press release. "So Bolt is still the superior athlete." Nevertheless, the team hopes to drop these implements and have a freestanding speed bot by early next year. They’re calling that model the WildCat, and a rendering of the design is pictured above.

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The technology behind the Cheetah is undeniably impressive. The legs themselves are coordinated by a series of algorithms that keep them responsive to the terrain as they speed up. Like its older sibling, the BigDog, the machine is also equipped with sensors to keep it from running into things. The BigDog, by the way, can haul 100-pounds of gear for soldiers, and its designers expect to boost that number to 400-pounds over the next 18 months. The Cheetah’s built for speed, though. It just keeps getting faster, too. Just half a year ago, the Cheetah set a speed record of 18 miles per hour. This latest run obviously blew that record out of the water.

So far, Boston Dynamics is a little bit vague about what exactly the Cheetah will do in the battlefield. It’s designed to be a companion to human soldiers and to be able to walk the same terrain. Darpa says the machine will "contribute to emergency response, humanitarian assistance and other defense missions." Honestly, I just want to see it fight Russia’s robotic beast — they must have one, right? — to the death.

Image via Boston Dynamics
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