 Engineers from China are designing the heavy-duty robot of the future. Reported in the Journal of Bionic Engineering, the limbs of this robot are modeled after the powerful legs of large land mammals. Studying their anatomy offered clues on where to place different joints and how to maximize a parameter known as effective mechanical advantage, which is like an organism's gear ratio. In walking simulations, this hexapod, weighing 4.5 metric tons, could walk comfortably at 5 km per hour. Meanwhile, experiments confirmed the high load capacity and optimized motion of each leg. The team plans to create a full version of their heavy-duty hexapod in the near future, which they hope will be able to cover rough terrain to provide disaster relief and emergency rescue.