HyQReal may not be the first quadruped robot mule, as Boston Dynamics takes the crown for that, but this new creation is definitely no slouch. Created by resarchers at the Instituto Itaiana di Tecnologia (IIT), it can easily pull a 3-ton place across a runway at the Geneva Airport. This bot weighs just over 280-pounds, is apporximately 4-feet long, and sports ‘custom-made’ feet with special rubber grips attached for maximum traction on flat ground. “Pulling a plane allowed us to demonstrate the robot’s strength, power-autonomy and the optimized design. We wanted to achieve something that has never been done before, and we succeeded last week,” said Claudio Semini, project leader at IIT’s Dynamic Legged Systems Lab. Read more for a video and additional information.
“Last month, SoftBank-owned Boston Dynamics showed off its Spotpower robot dogs pulling a truck across a parking lot. The robots were able to haul the truck at an approximately 1 degree angle uphill. Boston Dynamics has said it hopes to have the Spotpower available for purchase by sometime this year,” reports The Daily Mail.
