Irrepressible robot roo bounces on flexible blades

Post by **Nipuna** » Mon Apr 07, 2014 6:59 am

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUxQM0O7LpQ[/media]

Forget ominous drones and creepy robots, there's a kangaroo-inspired robot in town and it's cheerfully bouncing your way.

The BionicKangaroo was developed by Festo, an industrial automation company based in Esslingen am Neckar, Germany. Elastic springs in each leg store energy on landing, just like the tendon in a kangaroo's leg, allowing the robot to mimic the inexhaustible jumping of the real thing.

The robotic roo weighs just 7 kilograms, stands 1 metre high, and each leap can lift it 40 centimetres into the air and propel it 80 centimetres forward. It is controlled by an armband that lets someone direct it with the wave of an arm.

The BionicKangaroo is the latest member of a menagerie of animals built by Festo for its annual Bionic Learning Network project, which aims to learn from nature to develop better ways of gripping, moving and controlling things in factories.

Past creations include a flying SmartBird, a swimming penguin, a flying object that propels itself by flipping inside out and a robotic elephant trunk that trains itself.