Quadruped robots are under development by Korean firms KITECH and POSTECH. Watch them strut their robotic stuff in the following short video.
(KITECH and POSTECH quadruped robot video)
POSTECH’s pQ1 (PIRO Quadruped Version 1) is relatively small, just 21 inches tall. KITECH’s larger quadruped robot looks to be at least four feet tall.
Neither of these two robots are as coordinated as Boston Dynamic's BigDog robot. If you haven't seen it, you'll be impressed by BigDog's balance as shown in this video.
SF predictions of quadruped robots abound; here's an early one from the exceptional 1951 short story The Quest for Saint Aquin by Anthony Boucher, who writes about an autonomous robot with articulated legs:
He... took his first opportunity to inspect the robass in full light. He admired the fast-plodding, articulated legs, so necessary since roads had degenerated...
Thomas pulled off the skins and contemplated the sleek functional lines of the robass. Smiling, he stowed his minimal gear into its panniers and climbed into the foam saddle. The starlight was bright enough so he could check the necessary coordinates on his map and feed the data into the electronic controls...
(Read more about the robass)
Tactile Skin Supplier Map
'What strange sensitivity! What an amazing development of science was manifested in every move and act and word of this Robot!' - Ray Cummings, 1931.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!)
is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for
the Invention Category that interests
you, the Glossary, the Invention
Timeline, or see what's New.
Prairie Madness - And Space Sickness
'Space-sickness is one of the most unpleasant sensations that a human being can experience. Not all are subject to it...'
'Old People Began to Cross The Continent In Their Own Cars'
'It was a relief to enter one of the comfortable autos, whisper a direction down the tube, and just know that you would be taken to your destination in the quickest, safest, and cheapest manner.'
Starfall Manufacturing Drugs In Space
'The vast spinning sphere of Factory in the Sky loomed above and ahead of us, gleaming white against the unfathomable jet depths of surrounding space.'
The Solar Oberth Slingshot
'And if it doesn’t work,' inquired Lazarus, 'what does that make us? Sunspots?'
'If Anyone Is Watching Earth...'
'Our study of your race has convinced us that you are not fitted to leave your planet in the present state of your civilization.'