In perhaps the ultimate bridge between Japan's love of robotics and all things cute, a development team at Osaka University lead by Professor Koh Hosoda has made this lively dog robot, powered by pneumatics.

While it certainly seems like something out of science fiction to see a robotic dog on a leash, you probably won't be surprised to find out that the robo-dog, called PneuHound, is actually pretty damn cute. PneuHound's mechanical feet waddle and pit-pat with all the adorable furry of a Corgi running down the hall, and tops off at an impressive speed of 9.5 km per hour. Air pressure fuels PneuHound's artificial muscles, and actually gives the impression that it has some enthusiastic affection for its owner.

Here's a video that demonstrates the coolness, cuteness, and of course clumsiness of PneuHound.

Professor Hosoda even tweeted out proof that it makes for at least a nice visible companion to a real dog.