Puma launches new robot to help athletes train

Puma has launched a very adorable robot called the Puma BeatBot aimed at helping athletes train and practice beating their own records.

The four-wheel robot that looks remarkably like an RC car mixed with a shoebox, is programmed to give athletes something to race against - kind of like a free-roaming robotic rabbit to their inner Usain Bolt.

The BeatBot was created by the J. Walter Thompson ad agency - and a couple of MIT engineers. The little robot has nine built-in infrared sensors designed to follow the lines of a track as it goes along at a pre-determined pace.

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The gadget is capable of hitting Usain Bolt levels of speed, but runners can slow it down through a mobile app. The bot figures how fast it is going by monitoring the revolution of the wheels and sports front and rear-facing GoPro cameras and LED lights on its tails for easier viewing if it leaves a runner behind.

Right now, Puma is only making the BeatBot available to its own athletes (such as Usain Bolt), but there are plans to introduce it to a number of athletic programs later this year.