Abstract: The coordination of robotic and natural walking and running is often treated as a complex control problem. In contrast, I will mention some things that can be inferred from simple mechanical analysis. As promoted early on by Tom McMahon and then Tad McGeer, walking gaits can be generated by machines with no control. These machines use relatively little energy and, like many bicycles, can have a measure of self-stability. However, the hypothesis that natural gaits might be largely passive is close in some ways, but not identical to, the stronger hypothesis that natural gaits minimize energy use. The talk will include videos of robots, some heuristic explanations, and few equations.
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