Robots from Sandia National Laboratories may soon be hopping-literally-onto the battlefield.rnThe lab has awarded Boston Dynamics a contract to develop the next generation of the Precision Urban Hopper, a small four-wheeled robot that can jump, grasshopper-style, over obstacles as high as 25 feet.rn"The Precision Urban Hopper is part of a broad effort to bolster the capabilities of troops and special forces engaged in urban combat, giving them new ways to operate unfettered in the urban canyon," says Jon Salton, the program manager.rnThe development program, funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), has a 12-month design phase followed by a six-month build phase, with testing and delivery planned for late 2010.
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