Meet Your New Mail Carrier

Her name is Cassie and she's got legs for days

February 10, 2017 9:00 am

She’s got legs and she knows how to use them. Well, she’s learning, anyway, with the help from engineers from Oregon State University and Agility Robotics.

Unveiled this week, Cassie is a lightweight bipedal robot that’s capable of walking  standing, steering and toppling to the ground without breaking in both good and bad conditions. The robot is designed to work in tandem with fleets of autonomous vans that will transport her to a delivery location so she can bring packages and goods up to the doorstep.

Built over the course of 16 months thanks to a $1 million grant from DARPA, Cassie ended up with a leg design that resembles an ostrich and is “agile, efficient and robust in its movement.”

“Quite simply, robots with legs can go a lot of places that wheels cannot,” said Agility Robotics CTO Jonathan Hurst. “This will be the key to deliveries that can be made 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. This robot capability will free people from weekend shopping chores, reduce energy use, and give consumers more time to do the things they want to do.”

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