The last couple of years there has been a lot of development in quadruped robots. The leader of the pack is probably Boston Dynamics with Big Dog, Cheetah, LittleDog and WildCat.

But the main source for inspiration for my project has being Cheetah-cub  from the École Polytechnique Féderale De Lausanne. The paralelogram leg design and small form factor where easy to relate to.

On another level MIT’s Cheetah  (Prof. Sangbae Kim’s Biomimetic Robotics Lab) is an amazing display of engineering and aesthetics.

While browsing MIT’s site to find a picture of Cheetah for this post I discover a new feline: Juniour Cheetah. Very interesting project and potentially a way to study dynamic gaits on a budget.