After two years of development, scientists at the German technology company Festo have designed and built a robotic hopping kangaroo. The robot, called a BionicKangaroo is around three feet tall and weighs just over 15 pounds.
After two years of development, scientists at the German technology company Festo have designed and built a robotic hopping kangaroo.
The robot, called a BionicKangaroo is around three feet tall and weighs just over 15 pounds.
It is controlled by the movement of a Myo arm band, but it is reportedly possible it could be handled by computer or voice commands.
BionicKangaroo is able to balance and change direction by itself when it’s not in the middle of hopping.
The mechanical design uses the kinetic energy from the last jump as potential energy for the next one.
Although it can closely mimic the movement of a kangaroo, the robot isn’t able to reach speeds of up to 40 miles per hour like the real thing.
Festo has come out with a series of biomimetic machines like a flying robot built to imitate the movement of a bird, and a flexible arm modeled after an elephant’s trunk.
Scientists from Festo released online video footage of the BionicKangaroo in action before it is available for the public to see in person at the Hannover Messe, which is one of the largest industrial trade fairs in the world.
