A vehicle including a body and three legs. Each leg includes a proximal end coupled to the body, a distal end opposite the proximal end, and an actuator. Each actuator imparts enough acceleration to the vehicle along an axis of the leg to cause the distal end of the leg to leave a surface upon which it rests. Thus, the robot can pivot around one leg when the actuator of another leg imparts an acceleration. One actuator may also cause two legs to leave the surface. Moreover, the actuators may be spring biased into a retracted position. Further, the body may be a Platonic solid and the axes of the lags may pass through the vehicle's center of gravity. Of course, the body could be a sphere while the vehicle could be a planetary robot or a toy. Methods of traversing a surface are also provided.
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