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There’s a new kid on the block in the world of robotics and – guess what? – it’s a pretty good jumper (freerunners look away).
SALTO, a tiny robot built by engineers at UC Berkeley, can leap into the air and then spring off a wall – just like a trained parkour athlete. Except it can jump higher and bounce further than a regular freerunner.
Not only that, researchers say it has the highest robotic vertical jumping agility ever recorded.
Now let’s put that into perspective. The average vertical jump for men falls between 0.3 to 0.5 metres (1.25 to 1.6 feet). SALTO, meanwhile, can clear over a metre in height (3.3 feet) in a single leap.
SALTO stands for Saltatorial Locomotion on Terrain Obstacles. “Saltatorial” is the Latin word for “jumping” and is used by biologists to refer to animals that can jump high and long distances (think insects, rabbits, frogs, kangaroos and so on).
Standing just 26 centimetres tall and weighing 100 grams, SALTO is modelled on the galago (also known as bush babies) – a nocturnal primate who happens to be one of the greatest jumpers in the animal kingdom.
Researchers observed galagos and found that they crouch before they jump. The longer the crouch, the more energy it can transfer to the tendons which can translate to a stronger jump.
So they built SALTO like the galago, with mechanical limbs attached to a spring that enables it to store energy in its legs as it goes into a tensioned crouch.
And because the bot moves quickly, it can double-jump as well, bouncing like a parkour athlete against the wall and gaining extra height in the process.
But while SALTO’s a high achiever, its jumps are still 22% less powerful than a galago. But you’ve got to admire the bot for trying.
