The Institute for Human and Machine Cognition in Florida (IHMC) has developed a new robot, Planar Elliptical Runner, and it’s one of the most impressive we’ve seen to date.
Incredibly, the robot will not fall forward or backward thanks to a single motor at its center which is responsible for powering its legs in an elliptical motion as well the side-to-side motion which keeps it upright while running.
In addition, torsion springs will drive power to Planar Elliptical’s legs if it meets resistance, removing the need for a CPU to consume data and make decisions.
The bot is controlled with an RC control but it is actually the size of a dog, making it a bit scary that it can reach 12 miles per hour on a treadmill.
Even more crazy is the fact that researchers say a human-sized version could max out at 20 to 30 miles per hour.
It is important to not that the Planar Elliptical Runner currently runs between glass walls to keep it from tipping over but these are reportedly going to be removed soon.
