Waltham, Massachusetts based Boston Dynamics has received contracts from the United States Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for the development of two new robots, one of which they hope will be able to run faster than any human runner, even Usain Bolt.
"Cheetah" is a robot that will look and move similar to its feline counterpart. Sporting an articulated head, flexible spine, and possibly a tail for added stability, this four-legged bot is designed not only to run extremely fast, but will also have the agility to make tight turns and stop quickly. Cheetah’s design was based on a previous quadruped robot used to carry equipment for troops on the battlefield. Cheetah itself has potential applications in emergency response, firefighting, advanced agriculture and vehicular travel.
"Atlas," on the other hand, was designed to mimic the biomechanics and physiology of human beings when it comes to navigating through difficult terrain. With the appearance of Terminator T-800, sans head, Boston Dynamics is designing Atlas to to walk like a human over rough terrain, crawl on its hands and knees, and turn itself sideways to slip through any narrow passages.
Boston Dynamics website…
Article from Wired: Darpa’s Cheetah-Bot Designed to Chase Human Prey…
Boston Dynamics Receives DARPA Funding for Walking and Running Robots
March 2nd, 2011 
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