MIT cheetah robots showcase skills

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)'s cheetah robots have a new set of skills.

Having previously released a video in March, the MIT cheetahs were last seen doing backflips. This time around, they’ve learned how to dribble a football, run and jump.

“Eventually, I’m hoping we could have a robotic dog race through an obstacle course, where each team controls a mini cheetah with different algorithms, and we can see which strategy is more effective,” said Sangbae Kim, Director of Biomimetic Robotics Lab at MIT.

The robots are modular, making it easy to replace their parts and limbs. They also weigh around 20 pounds and are each powered by 12 different motors.

I’m hoping we could have a robotic dog race through an obstacle course

This size and build makes them relatively inexpensive and lightweight compared to similar robots.

With the bots proving that they work, MIT are now planning to build a fleet which will be sent out on research projects. The final aim is for the mini cheetah robots to get involved in hazardous work such as search and rescue missions.