This Will End Well: Military Funds Silent Robotic Cheetah
Let’s get this out of the way first. Yes, the robot cheetah is a military-funded project, supported by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). So when the machines rise up and you see one of these things running you down with a lightweight machine gun mounted on its back, feel free to have a patriotic twinge of pride at what your tax dollars have accomplished. The robot cheetah that Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) researchers have developed with this defense money is a huge leap forward in robotic animal technology. You may have seen other running robots of this type, but those were noisy, clunky monstrosities powered by gasoline engines or tethers. The robot cheetah is a quiet, autonomous system that uses electric motors. “Our robot can be silent and as efficient as animals. The only things you hear are the feet hitting the ground. This is kind of a new paradigm where we’re controlling force in a highly dynamic situation. Any legged robot should be able to do