U.S. robot sets 14-mile 'walking' record

ITHACA, N.Y., July 20 (UPI) -- A robot designed by U.S. engineering students set an unofficial untethered walking record of 14.3 miles at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., the school says.

Steered by students using a standard remote control unit for toys, the untethered Ranger robot covered the distance in 11 hours, making 108 laps around an indoor track at the university's Barton Hall on July 6, a university release said.

The "walk" beat a previous record by a walking robot of 12.8 miles.

Unlike other walking robots that use motors for every movement, Ranger emulates human walking, using gravity and momentum to help swing its legs forward, its designers say.

Its gait resembles a human on crutches, alternately swinging two outside legs forward and then two inside ones.

Experience learned from Ranger could be applied to rehabilitation, prosthetics for humans and improving athletic performance, Andy Ruina, Cornell professor of theoretical and applied mechanics, said.