RunBot

RunBot [1][2] is a miniature bipedal robot which belongs to the class of limit cycle walkers.

The generation of the walking gait is straightforward: when a foot touches the ground the other leg is lifted upwards so that the robot falls forward.

RunBot was built in 2005 by Tao Geng as part of his PhD under supervision of Prof Woergoetter and after an idea by Dr Porr to use a walking robot to benchmark reflex based reinforcement learning rules.

[3] Since its inception the RunBot has undergone numerous design iterations,[4][5] for example where a moveable upper body mass on the robot keeps the walking pattern stable even on uneven terrain.

The sensory system is of similar simplicity, with the ability to detect the ground contact and the angles of the hips/knee motors.