A team of researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) have created a new sprinting robot inspired by a velociraptor.
The robot, dubbed the Raptor, runs on two legs, and is capable of running 46 kilometers per hour (kph), or 28 miles per hour (mph), on a treadmill, according to CNET.
Raptor can run faster than Usain Bolt, Olympic sprinter and the fastest known human, who has a recorded top speed of 44.7kph (27.44 mph). The robot is almost as fast as Boston Dynamics' Cheetah, which can run at 47kph (29.3 mph).
Both Raptor and Cheetah are kept steady by an attached beam, which also keeps them from running off the treadmill, Discovery News reported.
While Cheetah runs on four legs and is powered by hydraulic actuators, Raptor weighs 3 kilograms, and its legs are made of lightweight composite material. Another difference between the two robots is that Raptor has a tail to give it balance.
The robot uses springs as tendons that allow it to run more effectively at higher speeds, Engadget reported.
Jongwon Park, a PhD student at KAIST's Mechatronics, Systems, and Control Laboratory, said that the tail may not look like that of a real velociraptor, but it operates just like one, moving quickly to keep the robot steady while it steps over obstacles, Discovery News reported. The robot was created by Park, along with colleagues Jinwoo Lee, Jinyi Lee, Kyong-Soo Kim, and Professor Soohyun Kim.
The robot is shown in a video steadily increasing its speed until it reaches 46kph. The researchers also placed obstacles on the treadmill in the video, which the robot managed to dodge because of its tail.
Like Cheetah, Raptor currently is only capable of running on a treadmill, Engadget reported.
However, the research team is looking to make the robot more stable in order to have it run on any surface without an attachment.
