It's one giant step for robots on the battlefield. Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico has just released video of its leaping robot in action, showing the Precision Urban Hopper clearing a tall metal fence.

Funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the autonomous robot is designed to reduce military casualties by providing reconnaissance. The robot uses a powerful leg to help hurdle itself over tall barriers. Once completed, the four-wheeled robots will use its leg to hop more than more than 25 feet, says Jon Salton, the Sandia program manager

The Massachusetts-based company Boston Dynamics is under contract to build the leaping robot, which is set to be delivered in 2010.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29oUc8Czdic