All those quadruped robots we see all over are pretty impressive machines. It’s even fun to see them dance and definitely helpful to have them carry objects, but how much fun can they really be if you’re not able to ride them around? We’re guessing that idea came into play at some point in the development of the Kawasaki Corleo, a four-legged ride-on robot.
Developed by Kawasaki Heavy Industries, it’s a quadruped automaton that you can ride like a horse (despite being named after what sounds like a lion?), finally sparing us from using erstwhile impressive four-legged robots as little more than glorified dogs. Sure, you can still pet it like a dog if you want to, but with the ability to take you across rough off-road trails, this thing is meant to be ridden by futuristic cowboys.
The Kawasaki Corleo is described as a “revolutionary off-road personal mobility vehicle” that delivers excellent all-terrain capability while providing the same reliable handling and stability as Kawasaki’s motorcycles. Unlike your typical four-legged robot, it comes with a saddle for riders to sit on and height-adjustable foot pegs to rest your feet on, as well as small handlebars hidden behind the robot’s head. Steering is accomplished by shifting your weight on top of the steed, with the robot automatically responding as you adjust your weight around.
The robot is equipped with a 150cc engine, much like one of those small mopeds people ride around on the streets. Unlike the gas engines on those machines, though, the powerplant on this thing runs on hydrogen, allowing it to generate electricity that powers the drive units installed in each of the four legs.
The Kawasaki Corleo has rear legs that can swing up and down independently of the front legs, allowing it to absorb shocks while it walks and runs, allowing to provide a reasonably smooth ride. All four legs are equipped with slip-resistant bifurcated hooves that are optimized to absorb any surface irregularities, allowing it to adapt to most types of outdoor terrains. Kawasaki doesn’t exactly detail what animal they based it on, but we’re guessing it’s a mix of various four-legged creatures that live their days in the wild, just because seeing how it moves feels so different to how it looks when riding a horse. No word on how fast it can go, but they did add a small windscreen, so we’re hoping this can run at a pretty speedy pace.
Like any proper vehicle, it has an instrument panel out front that you can check for information about the ride. The current iteration shows the hydrogen level, the planned route, center of gravity position, and a few more items. For nighttime riding, there are headlights out front, as well as a colored light that projects yellow markers on the road to indicate the direction the robot is headed. Yes, it projects colorful road markers like they do in video games.
The Kawasaki Corleo made its debut at the Osaka Kansai Expo last week. Check the video below to see it in action.
