An outdoor robot is something else entirely, which makes this project so spectacular. It’s the M1 Rover, an unmanned ground vehicle, built around the Arduino platform.

However, current terrain-adaptive robots often face limitations, with shape-changing abilities restricted to specific body parts or compromised by increased system complexity and reduced efficiency.

A robot that can jump over 100 times its own height could leap over challenging terrain on the moon and explore the rocky surface more quickly than a wheeled rover, say researchers.