Look at Google's insane little dog robot. (Seriously, you have to check this thing out.)
Back in December 2013, Google bought Boston Dynamics, an engineering company that creates mind-blowing mobile research robots for the military. At the time, the company featured nine robots on its website.
But now there's a new addition to the Boston Dynamics' family, which the company demo'd in a new YouTube video: Spot, a smaller, 160-pound bot that can move even faster than its predecessors on rough terrian and withstand tough-looking kicks.
Here it is walking up some stairs:
And running:
Watch the full video here:
Now, meet some of the other amazing (and kind of creepy) robots that Boston Dynamics has created:
Atlas: The Humanoid Robot
Atlas is a humanoid robot that can walk through rough terrain like a human and even climb using its hands. It can lift and carry things, and it has cameras and a laser range finder on its head. When hit from the side, the robot manages to keep its balance.
Check out Atlas in action:
Cheetah: The Fastest Robot In The World
The Cheetah is powered by an off-board hydraulic pump, meaning that it can't operated untethered.
Watch the Cheetah sprint:
WildCat: The free-running Cheetah
The WildCat is Boston Dynamics' free-running iteration of the Cheetah. Although it hasn't reached Cheetah's insane speeds yet, the four-legged robot can run up to 16 miles per hour on all types of terrain.
The Wildcat can gallop, bound, and turn quickly.
Check out the full video of the WildCat:
Big Dog: The Huge Robot That Can Carry Almost 400 lbs
BigDog is perhaps Boston Dynamics' most bizarre-looking bot.
About the size of a large dog or a small mule, BigDog can walk, climb and run through rubble, mud, water, and snow and carry heavy loads (up to 340 pounds).
Check out BigDog climbing in the woods, jogging, and, kind of hilariously, slipping on ice:
RiSE: The Robot That Can Climb Up Walls
RiSE is six-legged robot that can climb up vertical terrains like walls, trees, and fences using its micro-claws. The robot uses its tail to help it balance and can change its posture to conform to the curvature of the climbing surface. RiSE is 0.25 meters long, weighs 2 kilograms, and travels 0.3 meters per second.
Watch RiSE climb a building and a tree: