[1] The author of the posted article, Ben Katz, designed the MIT Mini Cheetah during his master’s program. His thesis has become very popular in the robotics community as a reference for actuator design, and it is freely available online.
Thesis: A low cost modular actuator for dynamic robots
[2] Unitree, LIMX Dynamics, and other Chinese robotics companies may also have referenced or been influenced by his actuator design in the evolution of their own actuators.
num42 · · focus · HN ↗
Thesis: A low cost modular actuator for dynamic robots
<a href="https://dspace.mit.edu/entities/publication/b85069e2-f1cd-470e-a92a-9bf0dadfa7ee" rel="nofollow">https://dspace.mit.edu/entities/publication/b85069e2-f1cd-47...
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmViQ1T03Rk" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmViQ1T03Rk
[2] Unitree, LIMX Dynamics, and other Chinese robotics companies may also have referenced or been influenced by his actuator design in the evolution of their own actuators.
<a href="https://www.militarytimes.com/industry/techwatch/2026/08/18/how-us-military-funding-propelled-chinas-robot-dogs/" rel="nofollow">https://www.militarytimes.com/industry/techwatch/2026/08/18/...
[3] Ben, tear down a Chinese version of the Mini Cheetah.
<a href="https://robot-daycare.com/posts/2022-11-02-mini-cheetah-clone-teardown/" rel="nofollow">https://robot-daycare.com/posts/2022-11-02-mini-cheetah-clon...
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5SHUWb6kH4&list=PL8H6WijZPOLG2h_obkF65OR-5_JMzeKOw&index=12" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5SHUWb6kH4&list=PL8H6WijZPO...