MIT's biomimetic robotics lab, which last year developed a free-running untethered cheetah robot capable of bounding along at 10mph, has now created a new version—Cheetah 2—that can autonomously jump over hurdles.

These aren't just token hurdles, either: the current version of the robot can clear obstacles that are up to 45 centimetres (18 inches) tall while maintaining a steady speed of 5mph (8kph). The 45 centimetre height is about half as tall as the robot itself.

Further Reading MIT researchers take cheetah robot out for a run without a leash

While untethered jumping is already quite an achievement for a biomimetic robot, the way in which Cheetah 2 does it is even more impressive. There isn't a human pushing a "jump" button; Cheetah 2 is autonomous. Using on-board LIDAR, the robot can detect obstacles, estimate the distance to the object, determine the hurdle's height, and then adjust its stride so that it's perfectly placed to jump over.

All of the path-finding, vision, and physics modelling software are running on the robot. So in theory, it could just run around on its own, jumping over hurdles (until its battery pack ran out of juice anyway).

Previously, MIT has said it would like to improve Cheetah's max speed to around 30mph (50kph), which may require a more complex gait. (Cheetah currently bounds, rather than really cantering or galloping.) MIT also wants to give Cheetah the ability to jump over hurdles while running on softer terrain, which is a more difficult proposition as the robot's legs have to exert greater force.

MIT's work on Cheetah continues to be partly funded by DARPA.