This two-legged robot’s attempt at the fastest 100 meters ever run by a bipedal machine is proof that robots are getting more and more like us.
The two-legged robot’s name is Cassie and she completed the impressive feat in just 24.73 seconds.
Cassie set a new Guinness World Record for the 100 meter dash in 2022 with an average speed of 4m/s (9mph).
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Her speed was much slower than a human can achieve (9.58 seconds for men set by Usain Bolt and 10.49 seconds for women set by Florence Griffith-Joyner).
But, it’s impressive for a robot of Cassie’s design.
And it seems robots just get more and more advanced and useful, like this one that can physically lift your car and park it for you.
Elon Musk also posted an unbelievable video of a Tesla humanoid meticulously folding clothes earlier this month.
What’s more, robots are helping reveal secrets from history that were previously unaccessible – like this robot revealing the inside of the Great Pyramid.
Cassie’s knees were inspired by an ostrich, the fastest-running bird on the planet, bending in the same way.
She was created by engineers at Oregon State University and manufactured by their Agility Robotics department.
Cassie is not the fastest legged robot in existence, however.
That title goes to WildCat: a bulky quadrupedal prototype.
Developed by Boston Dynamics, it’s capable of speeds of 30.6 km/h (19 mph).
What sets Cassie apart is her bipedal design.
This allows robots to traverse spaces designed for humans in a way that’s impossible for robots that walk on four legs.
Cassie’s creators claim that picking up speed wasn’t actually the hardest challenge.
It was starting and stopping that threw up a real challenge for Cassie’s creators.
In fact you can see some of her bloopers in the video below:
“Starting and stopping in a standing position are more difficult than the running part, similar to how taking off and landing are harder than actually flying a plane,” OSU professor, Alan Fern, said.
Another hurdle (pun intended but not something Cassie actually tackled) was that the robot ran “blind”.
Cassie is not autonomous and has no external sensors.
That means she has to be steered by a human – think remote-controlled car.
However, with this AI humanoid learning how to make coffee just by watching humans do it – it seems some robots don’t even need to be taught ‘human’ tasks.
Cassie previously ran a 5K – however she didn’t reach the speeds that won her the World Record.
In fact, it took her 53 minutes to complete the distance.
“This may be the first bipedal robot to learn to run, but it won’t be the last,” said OSU robotics professor Jonathan Hurst.
“I think progress is going to accelerate from here.”
