This Weird 20-Legged Robot Moves Like Nothing Else on Earth and It Could Change How We Build Machines

This weird robot has no face. In fact, there’s no obvious front or back. It does not trot like a dog (technically, 4-legged robots like those from Boston Dynamics or Unitree are called quadrupedal robots, or quadrupeds) or stride like a person. Instead, it rolls and shuffles through the world as a bristling sphere, pushing itself along with 20 telescoping legs tipped with cameras. Its makers call it Argus, after the many-eyed figure from Greek mythology. And what a fitting name. Each leg carries a depth camera, giving the machine a nearly all-around view as it moves through grass, sand, wet ground and forest clutter. But the most unusual thing about Argus is not how strange it looks. It is how little it cares which way it is facing.

This Weird 20-Legged Robot Moves Like Nothing Else on Earth and It Could Change How We Build Machines. This weird robot has no face. In fact, there’s no obvious front or back. It does not trot like a dog (technically, 4-legged robots like those from Boston Dynamics or Unitree are called quadrupedal robots, or quadrupeds) or stride like a person. Instead, it rolls and shuffles through the world as a bristling sphere, pushing itself along with 20 telescoping legs tipped with cameras. Its makers call it Argus, after the many-eyed figure from Greek mythology. And what a fitting name. Each leg carries a depth camera, giving the machine a nearly all-around view as it moves through grass, sand, wet ground and forest clutter. But the most unusual thing about Argus is not how strange it looks. It is how little it cares which way it is facing. In t...