Running Robot Mimics Human Movements

Watch as "Athlete," a bipedal robot with air-powered "muscles," sprints like a human. Sure, it still has some learning to do; in fact, it usually falls after taking five or six steps. However, Athlete is leaps and bounds ahead of other "running" robots. And it's changing researchers' expectations of what robots can do -- one step at a time.

Athlete's creator, Ryuma Niiyama, broke the mold by creating a robot that contracts its muscles the same way a human does, instead of using electrically-rotating joints like most droids. 

Check out the video to see for yourself. The running demonstration starts toward the end.