Jumping Robots Mimic Adorable Big-Eyed Primates

Despite being just 10 inches (26 centimeters) tall and weighing only 0.2 pounds (100 grams), the one-legged robot, named Salto, can leap up more than 3.2 feet (1 meter) high from a standing position. Salto is not the highest-jumping robot out there — some bots can jump to heights of more than 10 feet (3 meters), but those bots have to wind up for several minutes before they leap, whereas Salto can jump again almost immediately, the researchers said. Salto is also able to climb at a rate of 5.7 feet per second (1.75 meters per second) compared to the 3.7 feet per second (1.12 m/s) achieved by the next-best robot, the researchers said.