Look At This Amazing Jumping Kangaroo Robot

German robotics firm Festo has come up with a unique take on robot locomotion.

Their newest robot is built on the principle of "recovering, storing, and releasing energy based on a natural model" in order to move around. In this case, the "natural model" is a kangaroo, so Festo's robot literally jumps to get from A to B.

Here's what it looks like at speed:

And here's what it looks like slowed down:

The kangaroo's jump process is divided into three phases, outlined in the diagram below. First is the take-off phase, in which the kangaroo leans forward to shift its center of gravity before engaging valves in its legs for take-off. During the flight phase, it moves its legs forward in preparation for landing and raises its tail. Then it finally lands.

We're not totally sure why this robot exists, but hey, it's a kangaroo robot!

Check out Festo's video demo below.