Researchers in Pensacola, Fla. have created a six-legged robot capable of being one of the world's fastest remote-controlled robots.
The robot, called OutRunner, was created by Robotics Unlimited, a spinoff of the Florida Institute and Machine Cognition, which is headed up by research scientist Sebastian Cotton, according to CBS News. Robotics Unlimited is trying to raise money for the robot on Kickstarter.
OutRunner has gained a lot of attention online, appearing in the Verge, Engadget and the Daily Mail.
"The whole robotic world is really closed off right now," Cotton said. "If you're not an engineer with a Ph.D., well, you won't be able to play with robots. I want to change that, so I started my company to commercialize robots."
The robot's creators say it can run up to 20 miles per hour and can run for two hours straight, News & Observer reported. The robot is less than two feet tall and weighs almost three pounds. It also has three legs on both sides of the central motor and processing unit.
OutRunner runs by rotating both sets of legs so that when one foot is lifted on one side, the foot on the other side is planted on the ground. The process mimics the running patterns of most animals and humans.
Cotton said he came up with the idea of the robot after his work on a project for IHMC called FastRunner, a bipedal robot, Naples Daily News reported.
"We see a lot of uses for this," Cotton said. "First, for people who like to build and take apart things, it's perfect, because OutRunner is completely upgradable. It also can be educational because it's very fun for kids to play with and easy to use. We want people to be able to play with real robots without having to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars."
Robotics Unlimited has gained over 70 backers and $15,000 in support for its Kickstarter campaign to bring the robot to the public thus far. The company must meet its goal of gaining $150,000 by June 7th in order to receive any funding, CBS News reported.
Cotton said OutRunner will come in two models: core and performance. Radio control will be used to operate both models, but the performance model will include a smartphone app that can also be used to control it. The performance model will feature a built-in camera and other additions, and will also be faster than the core model.
Cotton said the performance model will start at $799 and the core model will start at $299, CBS News reported. He added that customers can upgrade the core model piece-by-piece to the performance model.
Robotics Unlimited looks to finalize the design and smartphone for OutRunner through the rest of this year. The company aims at shipping early models to Kickstarter backers in late 2014.
