Toyota's monopedal robot leg will jump, jump!

We can imagine few things more frightening than a monopedal robot with a white plastic bulge as a head, but that's precisely what Toyota has created: a monopedal 3.3-foot tall robot that can jump 1.6 inches off the ground. Seriously. This guy is next on the evolutionary ladder for robots, which are slowly coming together with articulate arms, faces, and now fully extendable legs to eventually form the Voltron-like shape of a seriously bulbous dude. In fact, this leg would go well on that bot we blogged about the other week that is designed to carry injured soldiers off of the battlefield -- given that any given robot could run probably monopedal-jump away faster than it could roll (at least in our vivid imaginations).

[Via The Raw Feed]

[Rynth @ Sep 14th 2006 5:35AM]

I, for one, welcome our monopedal 1.6inch jumping strangly bulbous robotic overlords

[Tomppa @ Sep 14th 2006 5:38AM]

Hmm, soon we are really having robots that actually move quite smooth. Now, how's it going to get up when it falls :)

[Spencer @ Sep 14th 2006 5:40AM]

I for one welcome our monopedal jumping robot overlords

[Gaz @ Sep 14th 2006 7:09AM]

I for one welcome our.....oh no wait, I think it's already been done.....yes....yes it has.

[Tomato @ Sep 14th 2006 7:15AM]

"In fact, this leg would go well on that bot we blogged about the other week that is designed to carry injured soldiers off of the battlefield"

No way! If my leg's broken or something, I don't want to be on a bloody jumping robot!

*jump* *bump* *jar* *screams*,
*jump* *bump* *jar* *screams*,
*jump* *bump* *jar* *screams*,

every 1.6 inches for the next several hours.

Torture indeed.

[Ken @ Sep 14th 2006 8:11AM]

For years, I've dreamt of a one-legged a$$-kicking machine, and today I finally see it... and it's a Toyota product?!

Can I order 50 for my old office?

[John Stracke @ Sep 14th 2006 8:31AM]

Oh, my. It's a robotic Dufflepud!

[william @ Sep 14th 2006 9:20AM]

Kris Kross reference in the headline?

Thank you.

[Geoffrey @ Sep 14th 2006 9:33AM]

Maybe I'm the only one, but as I child who watched "Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears", its all I could think of when I saw the picture. There's one episode that's strangely burned into my mind where some of the bears find this giant, mechanical leg hidden in some cave or something. Turns out its a giant monopedal machine that hops all over the place and destroys everything. Am I the only one with some random episode of gummi bears burned into my brain? ugh.

[J @ Sep 14th 2006 10:43AM]

"hey, lets go monopedal-robot-tipping!"
"sweet!"

[zarniwoop @ Sep 14th 2006 11:47AM]

I just saw something very much like this at the MIT museum yesterday. Their leg technology center developed something exactly like this a while ago (albeit spaceframe design and not shiny white). THey also had 2 and 4 legged robots that can walk, jump, and do backflips.

[carl @ Sep 14th 2006 1:07PM]

Will it wear its monopants backwards?

[Pete @ Sep 14th 2006 1:10PM]

Does this remind anyone of the Peter Cook & Dudley Moore one-legged man sketch.. it must be just me then.

[Joel D @ Sep 14th 2006 4:48PM]

Haha, I clicked on this story just to see if someone would mention dufflepuds and I was not disappointed :-D

[Floppy Dork @ Sep 14th 2006 6:47PM]

So this one would try to kick my ass someday, ha!

[bogphanny @ Sep 14th 2006 10:03PM]

Oh my pants! I want one for the sole purpose of riding to work.

[bogphanny @ Sep 14th 2006 10:04PM]

hang on.. now that I think of it, wasn't this one of the monsters in Monty on the Run?

[Kris @ Sep 15th 2006 4:06AM]

If they added all the technology together we would have a super robot that will take all of our jobs away.