Unlike other robots, SALTO’s design was inspired by small primates known as bush babies, which can spring off wall. It’s capable of gaining height faster than any previous robot, and could one day help rapidly scan urban disaster zones. Standing 10 inches tall and weighing just 0.2 pounds, the one-legged robot can jump more than 3.2-feet high from a standing position. The bot can also climb at a rate of 5.7 feet per second, compared to the 3.7 feet per second achieved by the next-best robot. “Our goal was to have a search-and-rescue robot small enough to not disturb the rubble further, and move quickly across the many kinds of rubble produced by collapsed buildings. To do that, it has to be able to jump – and jump more adeptly – than prior robots,” said Duncan Haldane, a robotics Ph.D. student at the University of California, Berkeley. Click here to view the first image in today’s viral picture gallery. Continue reading for the five most popular viral videos today, including one that explains how much damage a stun gun really does your brain and body.
