Meet LEO, the professional slackliner robot built to act like a drone-bot hybrid

The idea of a robot that can navigate a slackline, skateboard and fly might sound like a concept of science fiction. But such a bot is very much real, in the form of LEONARDO, or Legs Onboard Drone - a bipedal robot that has drone like thrusters for stability. Known as LEO for short, it was built from parts of robots and drones found around the lab by engineers from the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. As well as improving stability when walking a tightrope, the propeller-based thrusters also allow the 2.5 foot tall bot to take to the air and fly. The team says that LEO could someday apply its conquest of land and air to robotic missions currently difficult for ground- or aerial-based robots and drones.