Milestones in the Development of Legged Robots

1836 Weber and Weber:

Measurements in corpses show that natural frequency of leg when swinging as compound pendulum is similar to cadence in live walking.

1850 Chebyshev:

Designs straight-line linkage used in early walking mechanism (Lucas 1894).

1872 Muybridge:

Develops stop-motion photography to document running animals.

1893 Rygg:

Patents human-powered mechanical horse.

1945 Wallace:

Patents hopping tank with reaction wheels that provide stability.

1961 Space General:

Eight-legged linkage machine walks in outdoor terrain (Morrison 1968).

1963 Cannon, Higdon:

Control system balances single, double, and limber inverted pendulums.

1968 Frank and McGhee:

Shift-register logic controls walking of Phony Pony.

1968 Mosher:

GE quadruped truck climbs railroad ties under control of human driver.

1969 Bucyrus-Erie Co.:

Big Muskie, a 15,000 ton walking dragline is used for strip mining. It moves in soft terrain at a speed of 900 ft/hr (Sitek 1976).

1977 McGhee:

Digital computer coordinates leg motions of hexapod robot walks with wave gait using digital computer to coordinate leg motion.

1977 Gurfinkel:

Hybrid computer controls hexapod walker in USSR.

1977 McMahon and Greene:

Human runners set new speed records on tuned track at Harvard. Its compliance is adjusted to mechanics of human leg.

1980 Hirose and Umetani:

Quadruped machine climbs stairs and climbs over obstacles using simple sensors and reflex-like control. The leg mechanism simplifies control.

1980 Kato:

Hydraulic biped walks with quasidynamic gait.

1980 Matsuoka:

Mechanism balances in the plane while hopping on one leg.

1981 Miura and Shimoyama:

Biped balances actively while walking in three dimensional space.

1983 Sutherland:

Self-contained hexapod carries human rider. Computer, hydraulics, and human share computing task.

1983 Odetics:

Self-contained hexapod lifts and moves back end of pickup truck (Russell 1983).

1983 Raibert:

One-legged machine hops in place, travels at a specified rate, keeps its balance when disturbed, and jumps over small obstacles.

1984 Furusho:

Planar five-link biped starts walking from a standing position, and travels at 0.8 m/s.

1987 Waldron and McGhee:

Three-ton self-contained hexapod carrying human driver travels at 5 mph, travels in irregular terrain, and pulls a load.

1988 Hodgins and Koechling:

Planar biped climbs short stairway, jumps over obstacles, and sets speed record of 13.1 mph.

1989 Raibert:

Quadruped runs with trotting, pacing, and bounding gaits, and changes between gaits.

1990 McGeer:

Planar biped with knees walks passively down sloping surface.

1991 Raibert:

3D Biped travels around laboratory.

1992 Playter:

3D Biped does 3D somersault.

1994 LegLab & 20th Century Fox:

3D Biped and Uniroo appear in Rising Sun with Sean Connery and Wesley Snipes.

1996 Leeser:

Planar Quadruped runns with articulated spine.

1997 Honda:

Honda Motor Company announces its bipedal walking project which has resulted in an autonomous humanoid.

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