biped

Last August, Elon Musk announced that Tesla was working on a bipedal humanoid robot that could perform boring and/or dangerous tasks for humans. His company has now unveiled two prototypes, one of which can already walk on its own.

A machine named Cassie has set a Guinness World Record for the 100-meter dash by a bipedal robot, and while it’s far from the blistering pace of the world’s best athletes, it is an impressive demonstration of robotics and engineering.

We first heard about the iCub humanoid robot in 2011, when it was nominated to take part in the Olympic Torch Relay. The latest and greatest version, the iCub 3, was the star of a recently-announced (and pretty impressive) telepresence demonstration.

It was just last year that we heard about the Ascento 2, a self-balancing, two-legged, wheeled, hopping robot. Well, as if it wasn't already impressive enough, its designers have now unveiled the even more capable Ascento Pro.

Whether you think it’s cool or unnerving, robots are becoming more agile – and Caltech’s LEONARDO looks like one of the most nimble examples yet. LEO walks on two legs, jumps and flies, can balance on a slackline and even skateboard.

Two-legged robot Cassie has recently developed an ability to run, something its developers have now shown off by having it complete what they say is the first 5-km (3.1-mi) jog by a bipedal robot.

While legged robots are able to perform feats such as climbing stairs, their wheeled counterparts are faster and less complex. The Ascento robot offers the best of both worlds, as it has two jumping legs – each one with a wheel on the bottom.

Some day in the not-too-distant future, a bipedal robot may carry a package to your front door. That scenario is envisioned by Jonathan Hurst, CTO of Agility Robotics. To that end, his group has developed an ostrich-like two-legged walking robot … and it's called Cassie.​

The likes of Asimo, Valkyrie and ATLAS better make some room, as there's a new humanoid robot on the block. It's the third version of the University of Tehran's Surena robot, and it was unveiled this Monday.

AMBER 2 is a bipedal robotic system that closely mirrors a human gait thanks to mathematical functions derived from human walking data. Amber 2's functions can also be applied to other robots to give them a more natural gait.

We've seen robots optimized for stability before, but COMAN is made of sterner stuff, remaining vertical in the face of determined jostling thanks to its sensor-equipped motorized joints.

Boston Dynamics' humanoid robot PETMAN tests chemical protection gear for the U.S. military in a new video published by the company.