It’s not the first spider-like robot out there, but it’s almost certainly the most advance one: a team of researchers at Osaka University in Japan has developed Asterisk [JP], a six-legged insect robot that can perform a few pretty interesting moves.

Perhaps the most interesting feature is that Asterisk can pick up objects with two legs, lift them on top of its body and carry them away. Asterisk is also able to climb up stairs, lower its body to move through narrow spaces or move along a net attached to a wall.

Asterisk has been in development for about six years. Its makers are currently trying to make it cartwheel, too (which is especially awesome).

The robot weighs 4kg, is 816mm wide and 78mm high. Asterisk comes equipped with an acceleration sensor, a gyro sensor, six force sensors, three infrared sensors and six CCD cameras.

Here’s a video showing the latest version in action (courtesy of Diginfo TV):