MIT Has A Backflipping Mini Cheetah Robot

Viswamitra Jayavant - Mar 13, 2019

After all, it can run twice as fast as human's average walking speed.

It is strange to say it aloud, but MIT’s Mini Cheetah robot could possibly be one of the most adorable real robots to ever exist.

The Institute uploaded a video on Thursday to give the public a view into the development process of Mini Cheetah. The video is technically a highlight reel of the robot doing what it’s designed to do. Most of the scenes were about the amazing feats of acrobatic and agility that Mini Cheetah can do.

For 1 minute and 45 seconds, you can see the robot in action doing backflips, running, hopping sideways, and playing eerily like a puppy in a pile of leaves. Mini Cheetah and others like it might not be able to completely replace real puppies in our life. But the video also gives us a pretty good view of what a futuristic life where robots are the norm might look like.

Mini Cheetah

Mini Cheetah is the product of MIT’s Biomimetic Robotics Laboratory. The department is also currently in the process of developing the larger variant of the Mini Cheetah: Cheetah 3. The robot's feet are agile enough to jump onto your desk from the ground. Though it weighs a hefty 9 kilograms (20 pounds), I wouldn’t mind having it jumping around the house.

Mini Cheetah has the ability to recover itself once toppled over. Even when kicked entirely onto its back, as demonstrated in the video, the robot can still find its way up on its feet again. The researchers were really testing the limits of the robot, but each and every time, it managed to prevail.

MIT vs. Boston Dynamics

The Mini Cheetah, according to an official statement released by MIT, is the first four-legged robot to do a backflip. The title of the first robot to do a backflip belonged to Boston Dynamics’ two-legged Atlas who pulled the stunt in 2017.

That is not the only thing MIT’s robot shared with Boston Dynamics’ own robot, however. The design of the Mini Cheetah was observably similar to the SpotMini’s line of Boston Dynamics. In fact, the SpotMini is capable of grabbing objects and even open a door, but you shouldn't underestimate Mini Cheetah's ability just because of that. After all, it can run twice as fast as human's average walking speed.