The Air Hopper Is A Grasshopper Robot

Serkan Toto

Dr. Serkan Toto is an independent consultant and advisor focusing on Japan’s web, mobile and social gaming industries. Based in Tokyo, he works together with financial institutions and startups worldwide. Serkan has been the Japan contributor for TechCrunch.com since 2008. He is sept-lingual, holds an MBA and is a PhD in economics. → Learn More

Tuesday, September 14th, 2010

We showed you robotic fish, robotic dogs and robotic snakes in the past, and we know you were just waiting for robotic grasshoppers. But thanks to Tokyo Institute Of Technology, you can consider those animals now covered, too.

The so-called Air Hopper is a four-legged robot that can not only move around thanks to its four wheels but also jump, just like a real grasshopper does. While it’s able to cross slightly uneven ground by just walking over it, the robot can jump over bigger obstacles by using built in pneumatic cylinders.

In experiments, the Air Hopper was able to jump as far as 70cm forward and 40cm high. The robot’s body is made of reinforced plastic. It’s 129cm long, stands 52.2cm tall and weighs 32.4kg.

I am sorry to say there’s no video available at this point (I searched everywhere).

Via Robonable [JP]

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