Chinese-made robotic dog hits 10.3 m/s, rivals human sprinters

BEIJING -- A Chinese robotic dog reached 10.3 meters per second in a TV show on Sunday, on par with top human sprinters, marking a new robotics milestone.

During the public demonstration, the four-legged machine, Black Panther, weighing 38 kilograms and standing 0.63 meters tall, broke the machine dog world dash record set by Boston Dynamics' WildCat.

The video broadcast by China's state television broadcaster CCTV shows the robotic dog reaching an impressive speed on the treadmill within 10 seconds of exceeding 10 meters per second. Usain Bolt's 100-meter world record is 9.58 seconds, which translates to a speed of 10.44 meters per second.

Unveiled in January, this robotic dog boasted a peak stride frequency of 5 times per second, ranking it among the world's fastest quadruped robots.

The team behind this project is a collaboration between a humanoid innovation institute at Zhejiang University and the Hangzhou-based startup Mirror Me.

In the past few months, the Black Panther has undergone an upgrade by integrating its three separate carbon fiber lower legs, thus boosting its overall strength.

The Black Panther now outpaces most humans in sprinting, yet still lags behind fast runners on land like cheetahs, ostriches and wildebeests.

Its future applications could expand into disaster relief and logistics, such as swiftly navigating earthquake debris.