Humanoid & robot atlas
WildCat
Photo: Boston Dynamics (official image), from bostondynamics.com. Image policy
RetiredSucceeded by Spot (now called Spot Classic) United StatesAssisted

Boston Dynamics · robot dog

WildCat

Cheetah's free-running successor, powered by a loud on-board engine. It ran at about 16 mph (25.7 km/h) on flat ground with bounding and galloping gaits.

Price
—DARPA research robot, not sold
Height
—Not published
Weight
—Not published
Payload
—Not published
Speed
25.7 km/hFaster than 97%
Battery
—Not published
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Why it matters

An untethered, engine-powered successor to Cheetah that galloped freely outdoors.

Real-world use

DARPA M3 programme

Timeline

First shown
2013-10-03
Released
Not yet
Boston Dynamics posts the first WildCat video

Maker

Boston DynamicsCompany · founded 1992 · Waltham, Massachusetts, United States

Owned by Hyundai Motor Group since June 2021 (80% stake bought from SoftBank for about $880M; SoftBank kept about 20%).

How it stacks up

Against other robot dogs that publish the figure. Pick a measure.

  1. CheetahBoston Dynamics · 201245.5 km/h
  2. WildCatBoston Dynamics · 201325.7 km/h
  3. HyQIstituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT) · 20117.2 km/h
  4. MinitaurGhost Robotics · 20167.2 km/h
  5. HyQ2MaxIstituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT) · 20155.4 km/h
  6. AlienGoUnitree Robotics · 20195.4 km/h
  7. LaikagoUnitree Robotics · 20175.0 km/h
  8. ANYmal (first generation)ETH Zurich / ANYbotics · 20163.6 km/h

WildCat is faster than 97% of the 34 other robot dogs that publish a speed. Bars show the 7 closest in date.

Speed 25.7 km/h 3.6 km/h45.5 km/h #2 of 35 · faster than 97%

Not published by the maker: height, weight, payload, joints, battery, price.

Public attention

A historic robot: no longer sold or in use, so it is not ranked against current machines.

  • No Wikipedia article of its own yet
  • 1 news story from reputable press listed on this page

Measures how much people read and write about a robot, not how good it is. Measured 2026-10-13; same method for every robot. How it is measured

What’s inside

The parts the company has talked about publicly.

Movement
Walks on legs
How it runs
Assisted. An operator steered it remotely while it controlled its own balance and running gaits.
Actuators & motors
Untethered with on-board power (IEEE Spectrum expected a petrol engine like AlphaDog's); a development of Cheetah.
AI & software
Bounding and galloping gaits with dynamic balance; variable gaits.
Other details
Ran untethered outdoors at about 16 mph (25 km/h) at its debut

Lineage

Every Boston Dynamics machine in order.

  1. RHexRHex2001Research
  2. BigDogBigDog2005Retired
  3. LittleDogLittleDog2005Retired
  4. RiSERiSE2006Retired
  5. Sand FleaSand Flea2012Retired
  6. LS3 (Legged Squad Support System)LS3 (Legged Squad Support System)2012Retired
  7. CheetahCheetah2012Retired
  8. WildCatWildCat2013Retired
  9. Spot (now called Spot Classic)Spot (now called Spot Classic)2015Retired
  10. SpotMiniSpotMini2016Retired
  11. HandleHandle2017Retired
  12. Handle (logistics version)Handle (logistics version)2019Retired
  13. SpotSpot2019Commercial
  14. StretchStretch2021Commercial
  15. Spot Enterprise and Spot ArmSpot Enterprise and Spot Arm2021Commercial

Boston Dynamics also makes 5 humanoids. See every Boston Dynamics robot

Watch WildCat

Video: Boston Dynamics on YouTube. Plays from youtube-nocookie.com when you press play.

Made, sold and where

Unit counts are usually company figures; analysts often disagree.

Price
Not publishedDARPA research robot, not sold
How to get one
No official buying page found
Built
Research robot
Sold or delivered
not sold
Where it is sold or used
Boston Dynamics, Massachusetts
Customers and pilots
DARPA M3 programme

News

The latest 1, newest first. Summaries are ours; tap through for the original.

  1. Boston Dynamics unveils WildCat

    A surprise video showed the untethered WildCat bounding and galloping outdoors at up to 25 km/h, funded by DARPA's M3 programme.

    IEEE Spectrum

Side by side with its peers

Picked by the same rules for every robot: another maker’s robot that moves the same way, is at the same stage and does at least one of the same main jobs, first shown within two years. Closer size and price rank higher. How we choose

Full comparison
MeasureWildCatWildCatBoston DynamicsNo public photo yetWe only show photos we're allowed to useStarlETHETH Zurich Autonomous Systems LabSame job: research · Both walk · Both past robotsMIT Cheetah 2MIT Cheetah 2MIT Biomimetic Robotics LabSame job: research · Both walk · Both past robotsHyQHyQIstituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT)Same job: research · Both walk · Both past robots
First shown2013-10-0320122014-09-152011
StatusRetiredRetiredRetiredRetired
Height———100 cm
Weight———80 kg
Joints———12
Speed25.7 km/h——7.2 km/h
Payload————
Battery————
Price————

Sources

Figures come from press coverage. Every link below backs something on this page.

IEEE Spectrum Whoa: Boston Dynamics announces new WildCat quadruped Robohub Boston Dynamics announces new WildCat quadruped robot Boston Dynamics Legacy robots Boston Dynamics Boston Dynamics History & Legacy — Handle

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