Humans legs are a complex marvel of evolution. Our pelvis and hip joints allow for some incredible, energy efficient bipedal movement roboticists find hard to replicate. Sure, some labs have churned out cool ambulatory bots that perform well in competition, but just as many collapse when given a swift kick to the side.
Dr. Dennis Hong and his colleagues at UCLA’s Robots and Mechanics Lab think they have an elegant solution to the bipedal robot problem: build the droid to move sideways. According to Hong, “One of the reasons bipedal walking is difficult is because of an offset in the hip joints. This creates undesirable

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