Black Panther: China’s robot dog breaks Boston Dynamics speed record

Chinese startup Mirror Me has developed Black Panther II, a four-legged robot dog that recently broke Boston Dynamics’ speed record by completing a 100-meter dash in 13.17 seconds, reaching a peak speed of 9.7 meters per second. This surpasses Boston Dynamics’ WildCat robot, which had a top speed of about 8.8 meters per second. Although Black Panther II’s speed exceeds the current Guinness World Record for a 100-meter robot race held by Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology’s Hound robot (19.87 seconds), Mirror Me has yet to apply for the official record, focusing instead on research and development. Founded in May 2024 by Zhejiang University graduates and faculty, Mirror Me aims to push robotics further, targeting a bipedal robot running at 10 m/s by 2026 and a humanoid personal assistant robot by 2030. These ambitions align with China’s broader robotics growth, as the country saw a 14.2%