By Berk Kutay Gokmen
ISTANBUL (AA) – A Chinese-made robot dog reached a speed of 10.3 meters (34 feet) per second, challenging the most capable human athletes and marking a new milestone in robotics, state-backed Xinhua News reported Monday.
During a live demonstration on TV, the four-legged robot called Black Panther, weighing 38 kilograms (84 pounds) and standing 0.63 meters (2.1 feet) tall, shattered the world speed record for robotic dogs, previously held by Boston Dynamics' WildCat.
The machine hit an impressive speed on the treadmill, surpassing 10 meters per second within just 10 seconds, putting it in close competition with Usain Bolt’s 2009 100-meter world record of 9.58 seconds, which equals a speed of 10.44 meters per second.
The research team behind the robot dog project is a collaboration between a humanoid innovation institute at Zhejiang University and the Hangzhou-based startup Mirror Me.
Black Panther was also recently upgraded within the past few months, which boosted its total strength. It can now outpace most humans in running, although lagging behind fast-running animals like cheetahs and ostriches.
The project in the future can be repurposed for uses in disaster relief and logistics, such as swiftly navigating earthquake debris.