Mini cheetah is the first four-legged robot to do a backflip

Robot's lightweight, high-power design is the perfect platform to share and play, developers say. The four-legged powerpack can bend and swing its legs wide, enabling it to walk either right-side up or upside down. The robot can also trot over uneven terrain about twice as fast as an average person's walking speed. Weighing in at just 20 pounds - lighter than some Thanksgiving turkeys - the limber quadruped is no pushover: When kicked to the ground, the robot can quickly right itself with a swift, kung-fu-like swing of its elbows. Perhaps most impressive is its ability to perform a 360-degree backflip from a standing position. Researchers claim the mini cheetah is designed to be "virtually indestructible," recovering with little damage, even if a backflip ends in a spill. In the event that a limb or motor does break, the mini cheetah is designed with modularity in mind: Each of the robot's legs is powered by three identical, low-cost electric motors that the researchers engineered using off-the-shelf parts.