New Robot Surpasses Competition by Leaps and Bounds

In an effort to create robots capable of traversing increasingly difficult terrain, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania say they have developed a device that boasts both jumping and climbing abilities.

Doing so, the Associated Press reports, renders the device especially useful in regards to, for example, a military search mission or supply transport.

"Quite frankly, what the leg robots were doing was going over terrain that a good wheeled robot could probably handle," University of Michigan engineering professor Jessy Grizzle told the news outlet. "What RHex is doing now is something that you couldn't imagine doing with wheels."

With six independently controlled legs and the ability to function just as effectively when flipped onto its back, the robot has demonstrated an ability to travel easily through a variety of terrain, including mud, sand and vegetation as well as climb stairs, rocks and steep inclines.

Furthermore, with a sealed body protecting its inner mechanics, the robot is essentially waterproof.

Battery-operated, the 22-inch long and 16-inch wide machine stands 5.2 inches high and can be outfitted with a variety of payloads, including webcams and USB flash storage devices.

In an effort to take full advantage of the machine's mobility, Penn researchers say they are taking inspiration from human free-runners and essentially teaching it Parkour or, in other words, "how to manipulate its body in creative ways to get around all sorts of obstacles," according to a press release regarding the robot.

By activating the legs in different sequences, the engineers have thus far been able to coax the latest version, X-RHex Lite, to perform double jumps, flips and pull-ups.

"What we want is a robot that can go anywhere, even over terrain that might be broken and uneven," graduate student Aaron Johnson explained.

According to Roger Brockett, a professor of engineering at Harvard University, robotics currently embodies a wide and diverse field as researchers search for the approach that will ultimately prove to be the most useful.

"This is just one big quest from people all over the place who are trying to see if their particular take on this is going to be effective," he told the AP. "It's unlikely that any of us have such a pipeline to God that we known which is going to be important in 10 years."