The US government is working on a shoe box sized robot that can jump over obstacles 5m tall.
Normally rolling on four wheels, the machine will use a single chemical reaction-powered leg to jump.
Sandia Labs has made a prototype and Boston Dynamics, maker of the BigDog walking robot (see below), will develop this further.
"Their demonstrated hopping capability allows the vehicles to overcome up to 30 obstacles that are 40-60 times their own size," said Sandia Labs. "Hopping mobility has been shown to be five times more efficient than hovering for obstacles at heights under 10m, which allows longer station-keeping time for the same amount of fuel."
Researchers are addressing challenges including: shock forces during landing; controlling hop height from varying terrain including concrete, asphalt, sand, and vegetation; and controlling landings to limit tumbling.
Sandia Labs prototypes small bus-jumping robot