Animals are much better at running than robots. The difference in performance arises in the
important dimensions of agility, range, and robustness. To understand the underlying …

Despite enhancements in the development of robotic systems, the energy economy of
today's robots lags far behind that of biological systems. This is in particular critical for …

Accurate and precise terrain estimation is a difficult problem for robot locomotion in real-
world environments. Thus, it is useful to have systems that do not depend on accurate …

ATRIAS is a human-scale 3D-capable bipedal robot designed to mechanically embody the
spring-mass model for dynamic walking and running. To help bring the extensive work on …

The need to move over uneven terrain is a daily challenge. In order to face unexpected
perturbations due to changes in the morphology of the terrain, the central nervous system …

Among terrestrial mammals, the largest, the 3 tonne African elephant, is one-million times
heavier than the smallest, the 3 g pygmy shrew. Body mass is the most obvious and …

Humans experience small fluctuations in their gait when walking on uneven terrain. The
fluctuations deviate from the steady, energy-minimizing pattern for level walking and have …

Humans and birds use very different running styles. Unlike humans, birds adopt “grounded
running” at intermediate speeds—a running gait where at least one foot always maintains …

Skeletal muscles share many common, highly conserved features of organization at the
molecular and myofilament levels, giving skeletal muscle fibers generally similar and …

Trained endurance runners appear to fine-tune running mechanics to minimize metabolic
cost. Referred to as self-optimization, the support for this concept has primarily been collated …