Cheetah And Atlas Are DARPA Inspired Robots

I like robots as much as the next geek, but some of them creep me out a bit. I blame it on Hector and Terminator scaring me as a kid. DARPA has some out there projects that often turn into some interesting finished items that may one day see the battlefield.

Boston Dynamics has announced that it won a DARPA contract to build a robot called Cheetah. The bot looks like the real animal it gets its name from, is faster than the fastest human, and has the agility to evade enemies. The Cheetah can zig zag as it runs and make tight turns as well as stop on a dime.

The company is working on another robot called Atlas that looks like Hector minus a head. As long as Atlas doesn't develop a penchant for hot 70 starlets, we are all good. Atlas will be a walking bot that can walk over rough terrain, crawl if needed, and turn sideways to slip though narrow passages.

Via Wired