HyQ is an hydraulic robot 1 metre long weighing around 70 kilograms, able to walk, run, jump and rear on its back legs. Using a force control system reacting to the pressure on the feet, HyQ is able to deal with irregular surfaces and to adjust its pace to overcome obstacles of different sizes and shapes. The robot is developed in the IIT Advanced Robotics Department by an international team coordinated by Jonas Buchli and Claudio Semini.
The video of HyQ first steps outside the lab may be watched here:
These advanced results of HyQ have being presented at one of the main international robotics conference, ICRA 2012, from 14 to 18 May in Saint Paul (Minnesota, USA), which this year is entitled "Robots and Automation – Innovation for the needs of tomorrow". In the future, the robot could substitute man in hazardous situations such as search and rescue operations in collapsed buildings e.g. after earthquakes or tsunami and inspection tasks in contaminated environments like nuclear power stations or chemical factories.