a new team of researchers has crafted a scuttering, alien-like creature called the Planar Elliptical Runner. Formed at the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC) in Florida, it favours mechanics rather than artificial intelligence to keep it upright. A single motor in the middle of the 'bot drives the legs. Because the legs move in an elliptical motion, it keeps its balance while moving. Roughly the size of a small dog, the researchers say it can achieve speeds of up to 10 miles an hour. It's controlled by a remote control and the team say that if scaled up, a human-sized version could hit 20 or 30mph. Eventually, using legs on robots could be preferable to wheels - as it would allow them to travel across uneven terrain.

Product:

• Country: USA 
• Company: ihmc Robotics