A Chinese firm has just presented a quadruped that challenges the limits. Boston Dynamics no longer has a clear path

In a world where the focus seems to be in humanoids as Tesla optimus or the ‘nurse’ robot that already works in a Taiwan hospitala new generation of machines is winning its place. They are fast, resistant and are beginning to show that they can do much more than impress in videos. One of them has just run 100 meters as if their future depended on it, and is Chinese.

Quadruped robots also compete. For years, the conversation about advanced robotics has been monopolized by biped figures. Robots that move as humans. But there is another way: that of robots that do not try to imitate us, but overcome ourselves in other areas. The quadrupeds, for example, have been demonstrating its usefulness in difficult terrain, repetitive tasks and, now also, in speed tests.

A challenging career. It was just a moment, but it didn’t go unnoticed. How global aims aimduring a live broadcast of Chinese state television, a four -legged robot aligned on an athletic track prepared for something unusual: a 100 -meter race. When the stopwatch was launched, Black Panther II did, the new robot developed by the startup Mirror Me.

He completed the route in 13.17 seconds, which is equivalent to an average speed of 7.6 m/s. In that same test, the robot sensors registered a peak of 9.7 m/s, and the company claims to have reached 10.9 m/s in previous internal tests.

If that data is confirmed, we would be facing one of the fastest quadrupeds.

Is it the fastest in the world? It depends on how you look. The figures invite to breastfeed, but it is always key to put them in context. Black Panther II reached 10.9 m/s in an internal test, which is equivalent to about 39.2 km/h. During the televised race, the registered peak was 9.7 m/s (34.9 km/h). Both figures exceed the official Wildcat,That according to the Boston Dynamics website reaches 30.6 km/h.

For its part, the robot Cheetah – also from Boston Dynamics – reached 45.6 km/h (12.6 m/s) In laboratory tests. The demonstration, collected in an official video, was made on a running tape with external food and physical support to maintain balance. Even so, the data remains the highest technical reference registered by a quadruped.

With that data, Black Panther II would be below the Cheetah – at least in tip speed – but clearly above Wildcat. In other words: it is one of the fastest quadrupeds ever built, although its brands have not yet been officially certified.

For now, the formal title is maintained by the Hound robot, of the Advanced Institute of Science and Technology of Korea, which completed 100 meters in 19.87 seconds (about 18 km/h), As stated in the Guinness book.

A young startup with very clear ideas. Mirror’s story didn’t start a long time ago. The company was founded in May 2024 in Shanghai by a group of professors and graduates from the University of Zhejiang.

One of the founders is Jin Yongbin, a researcher at the Institute of Innovation in Humanoid Robots, while his partner, Wang Hongtao, is a university professor with trajectory in advanced robotics.

In just one year, this startup has gone from developing robotic arms and mechanical hands to compete publicly with companies such as Boston Dynamics.

Beyond the Black Panther II, Mirror already works on new prototypes. Among them, a fast bipedo in 2026 and a humanoid that, according to their plans, could act as a personal assistant for the year 2030.

Images | Mirror me

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