By David Ponce
Erm… Well, we’re more than a little disturbed by the latest robot news coming out of the Land of the Rising Sun. Seems Toyota Motor Corp.’s been working on developing a robotic leg that can jump like a human. It’s 3.3 feet (one meter) and has a joint on its toe that allows it to jump as high as four centimeters (1.6 inches) by bending and stretching its toe and another knee-like joint. This is a considerable amount of progress over previous, stiff-jointed bots, and will be eventually incorporated into more normal looking bipedal bots. A representative said “the company is also developing on new prototypes that would allow robot to run faster and handle unpaved roads more smoothly. Jumping is just the beginning.”
If you ask us though, there’s something oddly disturbing about a lone jumping robotic leg coming right for you (think futuristic horror flick), benefit to the progress of robotics research or not.
[Read the Press Release] VIA [The Raw Feed]
