Short · Robotics
Why do walking robots fall over so easily?
Walking leans the body into a fall, then catches it with the next foot. A harder push moves the capture point farther ahead, so the recovery step must grow.
Try it yourself
Opens Balance Lab. Change the same thing yourself.
Transcript
Why do walking robots fall over so easily? Because walking is falling. Stand still, and your weight sits over your feet. To walk, you lean forward and start to fall, then swing a foot out to catch yourself. Again and again. Now push the robot harder. To stop the fall, its next step has to land farther ahead. Step too short, and it topples. Humanoid robots redo this calculation up to a thousand times a second. Follow to see how the world works.