Swiss Researchers Develop Robot That Runs Like a Cat

Posted on June 17, 2013

Researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) have developed a four-legged headless robot that runs like a cat. The robot, developed in the PEFL's Biorobotics Laboratory (Biorob), is a prototype designed based on the observation and reproduction of the feline leg.

Alexander Sprowitz, a Biorob scientist, says, "This morphology gives the robot the mechanical properties from which cats benefit, that's to say a marked running ability and elasticity in the right spots, to ensure stability. The robot is thus naturally more autonomous."

To replicate the cat legs the researchers used springs to reproduce tendons, and actuators to replace the muscles. Take a look:

ROBOTS