The Lab Making Robots Walk Through Fire and Ride Segways

They can walk through (controlled) conflagrations on college campuses. At least, that is, the robots in and around roboticist Jessy Grizzle's lab at the University of Michigan. Specifically, Grizzle is working with a remote-controlled biped called Cassie, a research platform that roboticists are using to master bipedal locomotion. So Grizzle isn't just making Cassie walk through fire: He's experimenting with other extreme use cases, like riding a Segway. Are those experiments a bit silly?