Boston Dynamics, maker of the creepy-yet-mesmerizing YouTube sensation, the Big Dog robot, is developing the next version of a shoebox-sized jumping robot for the military — the Precision Urban Hopper.
The Waltham-based company is working under a DARPA-funded grant from the Sandia National Laboratories., which developed the robot. The Hopper platform is designed to navigate autonomously on its four wheels and use its one leg to jump up to 25 feet in the air, according to Sandia.
As flying robots start to pop up with increasing frequency, Sandia says hopping is a more fuel-efficient means of getting over obstacles up to about 33 feet high.
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