Hannibal was an autonomous robot built at MIT from 1989 to 1991. Along with its "sibling" Attila, Hannibal was a six-legged rough-terrain explorer designed to serve as an experimental platform for autonomous planetary exploration. It contained over 60 sensors, 23 motors and 11 computers. Sensors up and down the legs included force sensors, touch sensors, color sensors, and potentiometers for measuring motor position. Mounted on the chassis were force-sensing whiskers, a gyroscope, a pitch-and-roll sensor, a near-infrared rangefinder and a small camera. Approximately three feet long by one foot wide, Attila and Hannibal were recognized as among the most sophisticated robots of their size.
In 1991, Hannibal was invited to an international event in Death Valley sponsored by the Planetary Society. It participated in a number of tasks including traversing rough terrain and docking with a planetary rover built by the Soviet research team.