RHex Rough-Terrain Robot

Nice. My friend did his PhD on gecko adhesives too[1]. He later built[2] a "six-legged" robot like Boston Dynamics' RHex 'bot[3]. [1] link [2] link [3] this video

Some pretty silly lines in there: Object { boson1: "Reticulating Splines..." boson2: "There's more Ajax in this loader than an epic greek poem" boson3: "♬ Reunited and it feels so good" boson4: "Are you there, Boson? It's me, Margaret." boson5: "♬ Is he a dot, or is he a speck? When he's underwater does he get wet?" exo1: ""Look again at that dot. That's here, that's home, that's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives." - Carl Sagan" exo2: "Call me V'Ger" exo3: "As far as we know, the universe is not Tail Call optimized." exo-argon: "Investigating: Class J Planet Argon" exo-bleu: "Detecting: Class H Planet Bleu" exo-cheddarwurst: "Discovered: Class D Planet Cheddarwurst" exo-daytripper: "Located: Class M Planet Day Tripper" exo-dunebuggy: "Detecting: Class D Planet Dune Buggy" exo-emanthaler: "Located: Class D Planet Emmentaler" exo-hoth: "Investigating: Class K Planet Hoth" exo-izod: "Detecting: Class D Planet Golf" exo-lacoste: "Discovered: Class D Planet Lines" exo-meangreenie: "Investigating: Class J Planet Mean Greenie" exo-measels: "Located: Class L Planet Measels" exo-mumps: "Investigating: Class L Planet Mumps" exo-neon: "Detecting: Class J Planet Neon" exo-polo: "Discovered: Class D Planet Colors" exo-purplehaze: "Discovered: Class D Planet Purple Haze" exo-tatooine: "Located: Class M Planet Tatooine" exo-xenon: "Investigating: Class J Planet Xenon" exo-ziggystardust: "Located:

How is it practical? It's a beautiful design, but far simpler designs can run circles around it in every scenario I can imagine. A small version might make for a fun desk toy. When I think practical, I think Boston Dynamics. this video link