leap a robot based on bio-mechanics of cheetah

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As we know cheetah's are the fastest creature on land,the main reason behind their speed and power is the flexing of their spines
                                                                                 -Jie Yin
Cheetah was our inspiration to create a type of soft robot that has a spring-powered, 'bistable' spine, meaning that the robot has two stable states," Yin says. 

"We can switch between these stable states rapidly by pumping air into channels that line the soft, silicone robot.

Switching between the two states releases a significant amount of energy, allowing the robot to quickly exert force against the ground. This enables the robot to gallop across the surface, meaning that its feet leave the ground.

Previously robots were crawlers, so they have to be in touch with ground all the time , because of this their speed binds up-to some limits.

"Leveraging Elastic instabilities for Amplified Performance" (LEAP), are able to reach speeds of up to 2.7 body lengths per second , more than three times faster -- at a low actuation frequency of about 3Hz. These new robots are also capable of running up steep inclines, which can be challenging or impossible for soft robots that exert less force against the ground.

These "galloping" LEAP robots are approximately 7 centi-meters long and weigh about 45 grams.

The researchers also demonstrated that the LEAP design could improve swimming speeds for soft robots. Attaching a fin, rather than feet, a LEAP robot was able to swim at a speed of 0.78 body lengths per second, as compared to 0.7 body lengths per second for the previous fastest swimming soft robot.

"We also demonstrated the use of several soft robots working together, like pincers, to grab objects," Yin says. "By tuning the force exerted by the robots, we were able to lift objects as delicate as an egg, as well as objects weighing 10 kilograms or more."