Robot can hop over 25-foot fences

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Sandia National Labs and Boston Dynamics made this cute little jumping robot.

An overall goal of the robots is to decrease the number of casu alties in combat. To that end, the hopping robots will provide enhanced situational awareness for shaping the outcome of the immediate local combat situation, Salton said. Their compact, lightweight design makes them portable, and their semiautonomous capability greatly reduces the workload burden of the operator.

In addition to providing military assistance, the hopping capabilities of the robots could be used in law enforcement, homeland security, search and rescue applications in challenging terrain and in planetary exploration, [Jon Salton, Sandia program manager] said.

Sandia hopping robots to bolster troop capabilities