--- title: "Deep Robotics' Lynx (山猫) turns stairs, slopes and 80-cm ledges into a walk" date: 2026-10-25 category: Humanoids & Robotics site: NeuroAI canonical: https://neuroai.site/a/na-robot-deeprobotics-lynx-allterrain language: en --- # Deep Robotics' Lynx (山猫) turns stairs, slopes and 80-cm ledges into a walk > Hangzhou's Deep Robotics (云深处) launched the Lynx (山猫), a wheel-leg all-terrain robot in November 2024 at ¥98,000. We look at the specs and why a Chinese quadruped maker is winning overseas inspection work. A maintenance crew needs to check a flooded cable tunnel, a staircase slick with rain, and a ledge no wheeled robot can climb — all in one shift. Most inspection robots stop at the first obstacle. Deep Robotics built the Lynx (山猫) to keep going. ## Key takeaways - Deep Robotics (云深处), a Hangzhou quadruped maker founded in 2017, launched the Lynx (山猫) all-terrain robot in November 2024. - It uses a wheel-leg hybrid (轮足运动形态) form, listed at ¥98,000 (≈ US$13,600 / HK$108,000). - Official specs: 30 kg, 12 kg payload, 5 m/s top speed, 3-hour runtime, 15 km range, IP54, and the ability to climb 80-cm platforms and 22-cm steps. - The company's track record is real: its X30 quadruped became the first Chinese robot dog deployed in overseas power inspection, in Singapore, in late 2024. - The bet is that all-terrain mobility, not just a cute demo, is what industry will actually pay for. ## Why "all-terrain" is the hard part Wheeled robots are fast on flat floors and useless on stairs. Pure legged robots handle rough ground but burn energy and move slowly. The Lynx (山猫) tries to have both: wheels for speed on smooth surfaces, legs for stairs, curbs, and debris. Deep Robotics describes the form as a wheel-leg hybrid (轮足运动形态), and the official product page lists capabilities that read like a checklist of inspection pain points — climbing 80-cm platforms, traversing 22-cm continuous steps, and moving at up to 5 m/s. Secondary product write-ups also credit the form with handling 45-degree slopes, a claim we treat cautiously because it appears outside the official spec sheet. The verified hardware numbers, from Deep Robotics' own specifications, are concrete: - Standing size: 0.8 m × 0.5 m × 0.6 m - Weight: 30 kg; payload: 12 kg - Top speed: 5 m/s; endurance: 3 hours; range: 15 km - Step height: 22 cm; ingress protection: IP54 - Operating temperature: -10 °C to 40 °C - Features: dual hot-swappable batteries, 1080p wide-angle camera, high-performance video link, OTA updates At ¥98,000 (≈ US$13,600 / HK$108,000), it sits in a different category from research-grade quadrupeds that cost several times more, and well below the price of a custom industrial inspection rig. ## From a viral video to a Singapore tunnel The Lynx (山猫) got attention in late 2024 for videos of backflips and single-leg balancing. But the more important story is the company behind it. Deep Robotics (云深处) had already put its X30 quadruped to work in Chinese power substations, cable tunnels, and the 2022 Asian Games underground cable inspections. In December 2024, the company's robots drew an unusual endorsement: a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson shared footage of a Deep Robotics quadruped, named SPock, inspecting a 6-kilometer underground power tunnel for Singapore's SP Group. According to Hangzhou government English reporting and company materials, this was the first overseas deployment of a Chinese quadruped robot in power-industry inspection. A parallel factory-line project in South Korea used the robots for meter reading, tray handling, and component picking. The company has said it has deployed solutions in more than 600 scenarios worldwide and holds a leading share in power-inspection robotics — a claim it makes itself and which we treat as indicative rather than independently audited. In a Fujian cable tunnel, Deep Robotics says its quadrupeds diagnosed 95% of surface defects, overheating faults, and channel-fire risks, a figure that illustrates the kind of measurable uptime improvement buyers care about. ## What this means for buyers For plant managers, the value is not novelty but coverage. Deep Robotics cites cases where a single quadruped replaced up to nine fixed inspection robots, cut intelligent O&M investment by roughly 70%, and raised defect-detection coverage. Those figures come from the company's project write-ups, so they should be validated against a buyer's own site before any purchase decision. Still, the direction is clear: utilities and factories want one mobile unit that climbs, crawls, and returns data, instead of many fixed sensors. According to Li An, chief scientist at BrainNet (脑机网), Chinese quadruped makers have shifted from lab showcases to paid industrial inspection faster than many outside observers expected, because the scenarios are unglamorous but relentlessly practical. ## Honest limitations Specs here come from Deep Robotics' official product page, not third-party benchmarks; real-world performance on, say, a 45-degree slope or in heavy rain may differ. The 600-scenario and market-share claims are company statements, not independently verified. The ¥98,000 figure is a pre-sale/list price and excludes integration, sensors, and software. Overseas-deployment anecdotes (Singapore, South Korea) are documented but small in scale. We found no independent safety certification data for the Lynx in this reporting. ## What readers can do now - If you run a plant or utility, scope a pilot: pick one repetitive, hazardous inspection route and compare a quadruped's cost against fixed sensors. - Engineers evaluating the Lynx (山猫) should request on-site demonstrations on your worst terrain, not showroom floors. - Investors tracking Chinese robotics should watch recurring overseas inspection contracts — not viral videos — as the real signal of commercial traction. --- Published by NeuroAI (https://neuroai.site/) — https://neuroai.site/a/na-robot-deeprobotics-lynx-allterrain Free to quote with attribution and a link to the original.