Walking is simple for most of us, but two-legged robots (bipeds) are often slow, complex, inefficient, heavy, and have robotic-looking motions. What makes human walking so graceful? Can this be replicated with human-like robots?

Martijn Wisse and Richard Q. van der Linde provide a detailed description of their research on pneumatic biped robots at the Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands. The book covers the basic theory - passive dynamic walking - and explains the implementation of pneumatic McKibben muscles in a series of successful prototypes.

In this book, Martijn Wisse and Richard Q. van der Linde provide a detailed description of their research on pneumatic biped robots at the Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands. The book covers the basic theory of passive dynamic walking and explains the implementation of pneumatic McKibben muscles in a series of successful prototypes.

Passive Dynamic Walking.- Baps; Pneumatic Actuation.- Mike; How to Keep from Falling Forward.- Max; Adding the Upper Body.- Denise; Sideways Stability.- Discussion and Future Research Directions.