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VIDEO: Bionic kangaroo hops like the real thing

The Local Germany
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VIDEO: Bionic kangaroo hops like the real thing
The bionic kangaroo. Photo: Festo AG

German scientists have spent two years developing a robotic kangaroo which imitates the hopping of a real animal. They have released a video of the bionic marsupial hopping around.

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Engineers have created the little, lightweight kangaroo robot to move and store energy like the real thing. It is controlled by gestures made by whoever is wearing an armband which controls it.

At around one metre tall and run by pneumatic technology, it is precise in its jumping and landing. Officially called the BionicKangaroo, it weighs in at just seven kilos.

The robotic creature can hit heights of 40 centimetres and reach distances of around 80 centimetres in just one bound, thanks to work from the automation company Festo and researchers from the Bionic Learning Network.

Festo has previously created robotic penguins, seagulls and jellyfish. Sadly neither these nor the kangaroo will be on sale any time soon, as Festo said they were just proof-of-concept models.

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