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SALT LAKE CITY -- It's a bird! It's a plane! It's over-used Superman humor!
No, it's Sand Flea, the RC robot!
Designed by Boston Dynamics, the Sand Flea bot is capable of "leaping" over 30 feet in the air. The project is currently being funded in part by the U.S. Army's Rapid Equipping Force.
Sand Flea drives and is operated much like an RC car, according to the demonstration video posted Tuesday on Boston Dynamics YouTube channel. An onboard stabilization system keeps it oriented during flight, allowing the vehicle to operate on either side, improving the view from the video uplink and helping control what could be considered "abrupt" landings.
A report from Spectrum IEEE notes that the design stems from a previous build, called the Precision Urban Hopper, that was a result of collaborative efforts between Boston Dynamics and Sandia National Labs back in 2009.
A couple of major changes took place for the Sand Flea. Most noteworthy among those was the change from a moving jump to a static jumping position, allowing the bot to "leap" to much greater heights than the previous model.
The jumping mechanic utlizies CO2 powered pistons that cause a propulsion lift between Sand Flea and the ground beneath it.
Boston Dynamics has partnered previously with the US Army in efforts such as the BigDog transport robot, which would see uses in delivering supplies to Army troops stationed in areas that would be difficult to access via typical transportation.
A Wired report from 2011 illustrated the various uses that the US Army could obtain from the Sand Flea, including its unique ability to scout out certain locations with its onboard camera that would be inaccessible by other means.
