Mesmerizing footage of a robot skiing down a snowy slope has been released by a Chinese university ahead of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.
The six-legged bot, which is kitted out with a pair of skis and a pair of ski poles, can be seen navigating a ski slope in Shenyang, in northeast China.
It was developed by a team of researchers at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, who have said that the robot passed all of the tests that they put it through.
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A video released by the university shows the robot meandering down a slope, bending its legs to adjust its balance and change direction as it winds its way around several human obstacles that congregate around it.
Another person follows the robot and attempts to get in its way. Its movements are smooth and controlled throughout.
According to an accompanying announcement on the Shanghai Jiao Tong University website, the robot is capable of "intelligent perception" and "planning and decision-making," but can also be controlled remotely by a human.
The tests were conducted on beginner and intermediate ski slopes, and included "racing, turning, route planning, obstacle avoidance and human-robot interaction through intelligent sensing and braking control," the announcement explains.
It says that the project was supported by the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology's National Key R&D Program, and that the robot was specially created to celebrate the upcoming Winter Olympic Games, which is being held in China for the first time ever.
The Beijing Olympics are scheduled to get underway on Friday, February 4, with the Opening Ceremony being staged at the Bird's Nest Stadium in Beijing.
Earlier this month, China claimed to have built the "world's largest electric-powered quadruped bionic robot," specifically designed for military use. The robot resembles Big Dog, which was created by Boston Dynamics in 2005, but was deemed too noisy for real-world deployment.
The four-legged robot is capable of carrying loads weighing up to 160 kilograms and moving at speeds up to 10 kilometers per hour, according to Chinese state news agency CCTV (via Global Times).
Most impressive of all is the machine's apparent ability to navigate a wide variety of different types of tricky terrain, including muddy roads, grasslands, sand, snow, steps, trenches and cliffs.
It can reportedly also both sprint and jump while remaining stable, and can be equipped with weapons in order to conduct armed reconnaissance missions, as well as being used to carry supplies and gather battlefield intelligence.
The six-legged robot is equipped with a pair of skis and a pair of ski poles.The six-legged robot is equipped with a pair of skis and a pair of ski poles.Shanghai Jiao Tong University
