Ghost Robotics' Minitaur Quadruped Conquers Stairs, Doors, Fences, and Is Somehow Affordable

Bipedal and quadrupedal locomotion has been an ongoing challenge for robots. There's been a lot of progress over the last few years, though, especially when it comes to dynamic motions: not just walking without falling over, but also climbing, running, jumping, and more. This is where the real value of legs is: they enable robots to deal with the kinds of obstacles and terrain and situations that wheels and tracks can't. Getting quadrupeds to do these kinds of useful and fun things requires that a.) you know what you're doing and b.) you have a robot that can do what you want it to do. Unfortunately, building legged quadrupeds is difficult, expensive, and time consuming.