WildCat robot is the terrifying future

Mark this time in your diaries, Internet, for it will later become a footnote in the history of our civilization when machines will be scooping up surviving humans for ‘processing'. A company called Boston Dynamics has built a robot that moves like a big dog, and we're officially terrified.

It's called the ‘WildCat', a four-legged robot developed to ‘run fast' on all types of terrain, and is a development of the company's ‘Cheetah', which remains the fastest legged robot in the world (it did over 29mph tethered to a treadmill). It's been in development for a while now, but this is the first time we've seen actual footage of it.

This WildCat is the next-gen Cheetah, able to run in the real world, at speeds of up to 16mph using ‘bounding and galloping gaits'. It's being funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA, an agency of the US Dept of Defense that helps develop new technologies) and you should be concerned.

A quick glance around Boston Dynamic's website shows many terrifying legged robots developed for the military, such as the 'LS3' that can carry up to 400lbs of equipment and follow marines and soldiers on foot; there's the ‘Atlas', a humanoid robot designed for challenging terrain and the 'RiSE', a robot that can climb walls.

Watch the video of WildCat running above, and then tell us Cyberdine Systems and Skynet were just icons of cinema, conjured up by Hollywood types. If an Austrian bodybuilder suddenly turns up on your doorstep to a background of Guns N' Roses, be prepared to run.