WATCH: Cheetah robot trained to jump

Watch the video above: MIT cheetah robot trained to jump.

TORONTO – If you’re going to build a cheetah, it’s got to learn to jump, right?

Build a cheetah, you ask? Yes.

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MIT researchers have built a robotic cheetah (because when the Terminators rise, they may want a pet). Last September, they demonstrated its running ability. But now, they’ve trained it to jump over obstacles.

In a video released on Thursday, the researchers can be seen putting obstacles on a treadmill while the cheetah jumps over them effortlessly. Some of the obstacles are more than a foot tall.

The cheetah is able to do this by using LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), technology that’s used for mapping. The algorithm the researchers used allow the robot to detect an obstacle and estimate its size as well as its distance.

The researchers will demonstrate their new-and-improved cheetah at the DARPA Robotics Challenge next month.

Perhaps we should start learning how to bow down to our future robot overlords.

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