Cassie's roughly 40 supporters were elated, cheering when it crossed the finish line. Its success was a seminal moment in robotic history, they said. Cassie's speed and agility, honed by artificial intelligence training, showed that bipedal robots could maneuver in taxing real-world situations while maintaining balance, a problem that has plagued designers in the past.

So, what is reinforcement learning? It's a training technique that teaches AI complex behavior by trial and error. In other words, the robot tries to walk and learns from its mistakes whenever it fails, similar to how babies learn how to walk. But before Cassie could stumble around in the real world, the team started with a simulation of the robot in a virtual world. Using a training environment called MuJoCo, the simulated robot referenced a large library of possible movements and learned how to apply them. The team then ran a second simulation, called Matlab SimMechanics, to test the robot in simulated real-world conditions.

Robot makers have turned to nature for their latest creation – a two-legged machine that walks like an ostrich. Called Cassie, the bipedal robot has a unique leg design that looks similar to the large bird, allowing it to crouch down and easily stand up without falling. Although the machine is intended to be a development platform, Researchers foresee its design being used to develop robots that deliver packages or assist in search and rescue missions. Robot makers have turned to nature for their latest creation – a two-legged machine that walks like an ostrich. Cassie is changing the game for two-legged robots.