So, obviously, we need a robot horse, right? No? Just me? Kawasaki is working on a cyberhorse, called Corleo. It’s not reality yet, but damn, we can wish….
Yes. A robotic horse.
It sports quadrupedal locomotion, a sleek sci-fi design, and ambitions of galloping through rugged terrain. Corleo seems to be part quad bike, part steed and part technological marvel.
But is it realistic? Let’s look under the hood. (Or mane?)
Corleo: Kawasaki’s robot horse
There’s a scene in Venom: The Last Dance where the alien symbiote, possessed by equal parts menace and toddler energy, whispers to a literal horse:
“Nice horsey, don’t scare the horsey… SURPRISE, HORSEY!”
That, in short, (I feel) is the energy Kawasaki has summoned with the Corleo.
There’s even a similar scene! But I digress.
I promise I won’t make “horsepower” or “Ride me, cowboy” jokes….
Back to serious, scientific business: The Corleo is what roboticists call a legged robot. Or more specifically, a quadruped.
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The tech powering Corleo
Corleo has four-legged stability, better balance on rough terrain, and the theoretical ability to run, jump, and adapt to rocks, slopes, and mud without needing wheels.
It has actuators (the muscle-like motors that make it move), proprioceptive sensors (to detect balance and movement), and hopefully exteroceptive ones too (to sense the environment).
It’ll need both if it plans to gallop without breaking its legs. Or yours.
But there are some concerns, of course.
Oxford Robotics researcher Matías Mattamala notes that Corleo lacks visible cameras or LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) sensors in the demo shots.
That might just be a design choice, but it’s fair to ask: how is this horsey going to see where it’s going?
Galloping is hard, actually
While self-balancing exoskeletons and robots like Boston Dynamics’ Spot have shown impressive feats, mounting a human on top and asking the machine to jump a ravine is another level entirely.
Here’s Spot, if you need a refresher:
While the running part of it all might be a bit tricky, there are also other factors to take into consideration:
- dynamic balance,
- terrain awareness,
- real-time adjustments, and
- strength to support its own weight plus yours.
The Corleo promises that, but it’s still a concept. Promising, yes. Real? Not yet.
Why this tech still matters
Whether or not Corleo ever becomes the Cyberhorse it dreams of being, the research and engineering that go into developing it could spill into far more meaningful tech.
And it becomes even more empowering for people with limited mobility.
Mattamala points out that exoskeletons such as Wandercraft and Human in Motion Robotics are already changing lives.
He says if Corleo pushes actuator design, balance algorithms, or terrain-adaptive controls forward, the tech could benefit medical devices, not just luxury robo-horseys.
TL;DR: Final thoughts about Corleo
Yes, Kawasaki wants to build a robotic horse.
No, we shouldn’t laugh.
Because even if it never gallops out of concept, the future of mobility, accessibility, and robotics could be riding right behind it.
Matías Mattamala is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Oxford Robotics Institute. This piece references and builds upon his article, published by The Conversation.
