When a real-world Montgomery Burns snarls "release the hounds" in the near future, you'd better hope that it's not a pack of determined and capable Lynx robodogs coming after you. We've already seen the wheeled wonder speed through fair-weather wilderness, and now it's back to prove its all-weather mettle – with impressive acrobatic style.
Quadruped robots have been padding their way into our hearts and minds (and fears) for a number of years now, most famously through the exploits of Spot and pups from Boston Dynamics. But you might notice that the Lynx model from China's Deep Robotics is not your regular four-legged robotic friend.
Instead of rubberized feet, its jointed limbs sport motorized wheels – like the Swiss-Mile Robot, W1 and Go2-W before it. This allows the intrepid beast to scoot along at speed, but it can also walk along and climb over obstacles by locking its wheels for grip. And that sort of control can be put to very good – and entertaining – use.
Not only does the Lynx nail jumps over a stream, 360-degree flips over obstacles, impressive balancing tricks and eye-popping dance moves, but it also demonstrates its all-weather capabilities by hitting the ski slopes, getting playful in the snow and sploshing through moving water.
It's not clear how much of this latest adventure was carefully pre-programmed or controlled via hand-held remote, but Deep Robotics does state that the Lynx is built on its AI+ initiative, which will allow customers to tap into its "expertise in embodied AI" while also enabling "customized adaptations" specific to the Lynx's "unique design."
At pre-launch, specs were in short supply. But we now know that the Lynx has standing dimensions of 0.8 x 0.5 x 0.6 m (2.6 x 1.6 x 1.9 ft) and tips the scales at 30 kg (66 lb). The robodog is rated to haul 12 kg (26.5 lb) of cargo, is IP54 weather sealed and can operate in temperatures ranging from 0 °C to 40 °C (32-10 °F).
In addition to launching itself over stuff in its path, the bot has a step height of 22 cm (8.6 in) and can lock its wheels to climb over anything higher (well, up to 80 cm/31.5 in anyway). The wheels can motor along at up to 5 m/s (11 mph), and the hot-swap dual-battery setup is reckoned good for 3 hours between fast-charge top-ups – or a range of 15 km (over 9 miles).
The Lynx views its surroundings through a front-facing 1080p wide-angle camera, there's built-in Wi-Fi connectivity, and onboard GPS will help it find its place in the world.
The Deep Robotics Lynx carries a suggested retail price of US$17,999, and is available now.
Product page: Lynx
