RHex the ‘Parkour Robot’ Can Flip, Jump, and Do Pull-Ups

University of Pennsylvania graduate student Aaron Johnson and professor Daniel Koditschek have created RHex, a “parkour robot” that can navigate its way over obstacles even bigger than itself using six springy legs. The duo is currently working on X-RHex Lite, or XRL, a new version of of the robot that can perform double jumps, flips, and even pull-ups by launching itself vertically, hooking its front legs onto the ledge, and dragging its body upward.

video via University of Pennsylvania

via IEEE Spectrum, Digg