PUMA Just Created Beatbot—A Robot That Can Pace Your Workouts

That’s the inspiration behind PUMA’s latest announcement regarding the BeatBot, a programmable, self-driving robot that inspires runners of all levels to push harder by giving them a real visual target to beat. It follows the lines of a track to get around and was created in partnership with an impressive group of MIT engineering graduates.

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“We created the first “raceable” tech tool, BeatBot, which helps professional runners improve their performance in real-time. BeatBot is a concentrated technology whose application demonstrates PUMA’s mission of being Forever Faster,” said Adam Petrick, PUMA’s Global Director for Marketing and Brand Management.

In a world where wearable tech is booming and people track their every breath and step, PUMA is bringing it back to tracking speed work off your wrist. Runners can enter the time and distance of the race they want to replicate, place the unit on the starting line of a track and go. The concept lets runners set realistic times, goal times and even the times of their runner idols, just to see if they can keep up. For example, the thing can go as fast at Usain Bolt’s sizzling 100-meter pace, if you’re so inclined to give it a go for a second! Additionally, the robot has front and rear cameras, allowing the user to review the workout after they are finished.

Currently exclusive to their athletes, PUMA plans to roll out BeatBot over the year to various athletic programs around the world.