Mowgli, a type of frog robot created by engineers at the University of Tokyo, is able to leap vertically about 50cm into the air and has been seen jumping onto and off chairs and other objects.
Previous robots using motors to drive their legs have only ever managed to get a few millimeters off the ground - Mowgli makes a much greater leap by virtue of having artificial muscles driven by compressed air.
Mowgli's artificial musculoskeletal system consists of six McKibben pneumatic muscle actuators including bi-articular muscle and two legs with hip, knee, and ankle joints. Mowgli can reach jump heights of more than 50% of its body height and can land softly. Our results show a proximo-distal sequence of joint extensions during jumping despite simultaneous motor activity. Extensions in the whole body motion are caused by the compliance and the natural dynamics of the legs........
Source: Japanese link; scroll to bottom of page for details or watch the video
