In countless superhero movies, characters’ abilities to leap to absurd heights fuel over-the-top fight scenes and strain storylines. Now, researchers have developed a simple robot that can actually scale tall buildings in a single bound.
The mechanical jumper, developed by a team led by UC Santa Barbara engineering professor Elliot Hawkes, can reach a height of roughly 100 feet (30 meters). The researchers say this is the highest achieved by any known natural or manufactured jumper.
« To our knowledge far higher than previous engineered jumpers and over an order of magnitude higher than the best biological jumpers, » reads a study on the work published Wednesday in the journal Nature.