In this technology-centric society, it’s no surprise that even the animals are being hardwired. The following animals have been designed to assist the military and other personnel. Woof!
RoboWorm
This elastic, flexible robotic worm on wheels can adapt to its environment and crawl through a simple set of obstacles! While not yet powerful enough to use, the RoboWorm will eventually be able to be used in search and rescue missions.
RoboSpider
Similar to RoboWorm, this robotic spider may someday lend one of its eight hands to help emergency responders, by assessing chemical spills in hazardous environments.
RoboDog
This rugged lassie, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s AlphaDog, is designed to support squad members as they navigate through harsh terrain, carrying heavy loads and interacting with them in a “natural way.” While it has no head, the power pooch has sensors that allow it to differentiate between people and inanimate objects and terrain, like trees and rocks.
RoboCheetah
By far the most impressive, this wild, wired cat can run at 18 mph! While this isn’t as fast as a real cheetah (those speedsters can reach 70 mph!), it’s much faster than your average person.
More mechanical menagerie animals include RoboJelly, RoboGecko, RoboSquirrel and RoboFish.
Source: Wired Science