100m under 10 secs: China’s Black Panther robot breaks world record
Jijo Malayil
5–6 minutes

China’s robot dog breaks world record by running 100 meters under 10 seconds

Inspired by panthers and jerboas, the robot’s carbon-fiber shins improve stiffness by 135%, while cheetah-like shoes boost grip by 200%.

Updated: Jan 16, 2025 08:38 AM EST

China’s robot dog breaks world record by running 100 meters under 10 seconds

The design draws inspiration from black panthers and jerboas to enhance the robot's speed.

Collin Rugg/X

A Chinese company has unveiled a quadruped robot that can run 100 meters in under 10 seconds, pushing the limits of robotics.

The Black Panther 2.0 robot dog is the result of a partnership between Zhejiang University’s humanoid innovation institute and the Hangzhou-based startup Mirror Me.

According to a Chinese news agency, the robot’s design is based on the paws and joints of jerboas and black panthers, which improves its high-speed mobility by emphasizing power, strength, adaptation, fluidity, and precision.

With the robot, the team hopes to outpace actual animals in terms of speed and mobility eventually.

In 2023, a quadruped HOUND set a Guinness World Record for the fastest 100 meters for a robot on all four legs.
Springs on the knee joints of Black Panther 2.0 to act as shock absorbers.
Springs on the knee joints of Black Panther 2.0 to act as shock absorbers.
Tech meets speed

The Black Panther 2.0 robot, weighing 83 pounds (38 kilograms) and standing 2.07 feet tall (0.63 meters), can run 100 meters in under 10 seconds, breaking the previous world record for a robot on four legs.

Inspired by the movements of panthers and jerboas, it uses springs at joint positions to absorb shock and maintain speed. According to Xinhua, carbon-fiber shins, modeled after the jerboa, improve stiffness by 135 percent, with only a 16 percent increase in weight. Its cheetah-inspired “running shoes” boost grip by 200 percent.

With the help of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, the robot adapts its gait to various terrains by synchronizing its limbs for fluid movement utilizing the Huygens’ linked pendulum concept.

Exceptional strength and accuracy are provided by custom high-power-density motors, paving the way for future industrial applications. Black Panther 2.0 is now one of the fastest and most efficient quadruped robots.

“Through the integration of software and components, we created a prototype within a mere three months,” said Wang Hongtao, chief of the institute and a professor at Zhejiang University, reports Xinhua.

Though it still lags behind top land animals like cheetahs, ostriches, and wildebeests, Black Panther 2.0 can now outrun the majority of humans in sprinting. With the hope of eventually outpacing their speed and agility, the study team wants to learn more about how robots and organic things move differently.
Advancing dynamic movement

The earlier record-holder in this category was HOUND, developed by the Dynamic Robot Control and Design Laboratory at Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology in Daejeon, South Korea. The robot completed the 100-meter distance in 19.87 seconds.

Weighing 99 pounds (45 kilograms), roughly the same as an average adult male American bulldog, HOUND features lightweight, specialized feet built for sprinting. Its hip and knee actuators are arranged in parallel, with a belt-pulley system transmitting knee movement to the joint, allowing for a full range of motion.

The team behind HOUND emphasized the importance of the motor, highlighting that instantaneous and steady performance are key factors in selecting a motor for dynamic-legged locomotion.

Researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) created a tool in November 2024 that improves robot mobility by utilizing the natural oscillation patterns of the human and animal bodies. The device was tested on a robotic dog named BERT and determines actions that use the least amount of energy.

In gait control trials, BERT outperformed robots utilizing conventional techniques by precisely timing the application of these natural oscillation patterns to produce faster, more dynamic movement.

https://interestingengineering.com/i...-in-10-seconds


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