Robot Leo was programmed to teach himself to walk. It takes him about five hours, not counting the time it took him to pick himself up again. For his doctoral research, Dr Erik Schuitema (3mE) spent hours watching how the little 50-centimetre robot tirelessly moved his feet, fell over and then pushed himself up again. "It made me realise that this research is gradually winning ground, headed for a very distant goal", says Schuitema. Walking robots should be able to move among people more flexibly.
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