"Cheetah Cub" Robot That Runs Like A Cat: [VIDEO] Of Catbot That May Save Lives

A robot that runs like a cat has sprung to life-- and it may save lives. You can watch a video of it running below. The "cheetah-cub robot" has been created in Switzerland by researchers. The "catbot", dubbed a "cheetah-cub robot" because it is the size of a cheetah cub, may be the future of search-and-rescue operations and save lives. It may also be used in exploration operations because of its ability to run over rugged terrain.

 Researchers announced that the small four-legged, high-speed robot that runs like a cat can move much faster than any other robots in its category. It runs about as fast as an adult human walking briskly. The "cheetah cub" robot is small and has a tail but no head. Regardless, it's easy to identify as modeled on a cat due to its gait and the way it moves. Thus, just like a cat, it's small, light, and fast.

The "cheetah cub" is part of a project to create a new kind of robot to use for search and rescue or exploration operations.

The catbot can move seven times its boy length in one second, or about 4.5 feet. That works out to be a smidge over three miles an hour.

"This is a good walking speed for an adult human," one of the researchers on the project, Alexander Sprowitz, told press.

The catbot is about 20 inches long but only weighs about 2 and a half pounds. It's made of relatively inexpensive materials, which may make it easy to duplicate for mass manufacture in the future.

The "cheetah cub" robot isn't quite as agile as a real cat, but it "still has excellent auto-stabilization characteristics when running at full speed or over a course that included disturbances such as small steps." Because it can go over steps, it may be used for operations over rugged terrain.

"Its particularity is the design of its legs, which make it very fast and stable," Sporowitz said.

Researchers replicated feline design in the robot that runs like a cat by using springs to replace tendons and autocators, small motors that convert energy to movement, to stand in for muscles. The Swiss research group followed cat proportions carefully.

While the technology is still in developmental stages, the creators eventually hope to "develop fast, agile, ground-hugging machines for use in exploration, for example for search and rescue in natural disaster situations."

Sporowitz added that the technology may also provide "insights into the control architecture of animals" and a "strong impact on human locomotion rehabilitation."

Watch a VIDEO of the robot that runs like a cat below: