London, June 1 (IANS) South Korean scientists have taken inspiration from the prehistoric Velociraptor dinosaur to create one of the world’s simplest and fastest robots – the Raptor.
Raptor is capable of reaching a top speed of 46 km an hour which is faster than sprinter Usain Bolt – the fastest man on earth.
The Raptor robot has two legs and a mechanism that works like a tail to balance it.
Developed by the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Raptor, while running on a treadmill, can outrace six-time Olympic champion Usain Bolt whose maximum speed reached 43.92 km an hour.
The robot uses carbon/epoxy composite legs, which resemble the running blades used by amputees, for more durability.
However, the speed of 46 km per hour does not make Raptor the world’s fastest robot — it still trails the four-legged ‘Cheetah’ robot by 1 km per hour, a report in IEEE Spectrum magazine said.