Florida-based Robotics Unlimited has built OutRunner, a six-legged robot that can reach speeds up to 45 miles per hour on a treadmill and 25 miles per hour outdoors.
That beats previous records, by a lot: the legged robotics experts at Boston Dynamics have only gotten 16 miles an hour outdoors and 28.3 miles an hour on a treadmill.
The team behind Robotics Unlimited is raising 150,000 dollars on Kickstarter in order to produce a small version of the OutRunner, which can reach up to 20 miles per hour, the Verge reported.
If they hit their goal, the creators say they want to host a global robot race in which anyone can enter.
OutRunner looks nothing like an animal, but it still emulates the way animals run by using the same step pattern and mass-to-length ratio.
The robot's center of mass is lower than the axis of rotation, stabilizing it and eliminating the need for sensors and control algorithms to keep it upright.
As a result, OutRunner can run on grass, gravel, and down hills, as well as lean into curves around a track. The design even works with only four legs.