Sand Flea jumping robot gets the Botson Dynamics treatment

Meet Sand Flea the jumping robot that can clear 30ft of air in a single bound. It’s the landing that’s the hard part, we hear you say. That’s why the robot, previously using a piston from below, has been redesigned by Boston Dynamics to fire a piston from the rear – offering a flat landing and clear view from its camera during flight.

While the Sand Flea has already been seen, it wasn’t until Boston Dynamics got a go, that it became refined. The company famed for robotic creations like Big Dog, the Cheetah, and Petman, has added Sand Flea to the family. Now not only can the Sand Flea jump nine metres, but it does so flat, for clear camera surveillance and more gentle landings – and it can make the leap 25 times before refuelling. Check out the video below while we find out how long it’s going to take this tech to filter down into our remote control cars.

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Dan Grabham Editor-in-Chief

About

Dan is Editor-in-chief of Stuff, working across the magazine and the Stuff.tv website.  Our Editor-in-Chief is a regular at tech shows such as CES in Las Vegas, IFA in Berlin and Mobile World Congress in Barcelona as well as at other launches and events. He has been a CES Innovation Awards judge. Dan is completely platform agnostic and very at home using and writing about Windows, macOS, Android and iOS/iPadOS plus lots and lots of gadgets including audio and smart home gear, laptops and smartphones. He's also been interviewed and quoted in a wide variety of places including The Sun, BBC World Service, BBC News Online, BBC Radio 5Live, BBC Radio 4, Sky News Radio and BBC Local Radio.

Areas of expertise

Computing, mobile, audio, smart home