Dawn of the robotic dinosaur: Terrifying 'Velocirobot' can outrun Usain Bolt at almost 30mph

20:29 • 02.06.14
Science/tech

Running robots have been inspired by nature’s fastest runners, including the cheetah and the ostrich, the Daily Mail reports. 

But one group of researchers has looked further back in time for their inspiration and created a speedy droid based on the now extinct velociraptor, which lived between 75 and 71 million years ago.

The robo-raptor has two powerful legs that can propel it to speeds of 28.5mph (46km/h) which is just fast enough to beat Usain Bolt in a race.

The machine was created by a team of engineers at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (Kaist) and has a mechanism that mimics a tail, as well as its two nimble legs, Discovery News reported.

In one test run, the robot recorded a top speed of 28.5mph (46km/h) on a treadmill, which is almost as fast as a cheetah bot – the world’s fastest legged robot – which can run at 29mph (47km/h).

In comparison, the world’s fastest sprinter, Usain Bolt, can run at 27.4mph (44.7km/h).

While Boston Robotics’ cheetah is heavy, four-legged and powered by hydraulics, the robotic velociraptor weighs just under 7lbs (3kg) and has two legs made of carbon fibre.

Each of the legs has an Achilles tendon to works as a shock absorber.

The Raptor has a tail, which while dissimilar to the dinosaur’s, helps it keep its body more stable while it jumps over obstacles, Jongwon Park, a PhD student at Kaist, Korea said.

This capability was tested by the researchers throwing obstacles onto the treadmill for the robot to negotiate.

The tail swings from side to side as the robot runs to act as a counterweight and stop the robot plunging forwards and backwards, Cnet reported.

But both sprinting bots rely on poles to stop them falling over, giving Usain Bolt a large advantage is a race was ever run between man and robot.

 

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