Singularity Hub rounded up the most interesting developments in robotics through 2008. Most of them are the humanoid variety. I know replicating biped movement and stability is a challenging task and still at the forefront of robotics pursuits, but I always like to see the evolutions in alternative robotic anatomies.

In my opinion, the coolest, and by far the most creepy, is a quadruped that is capable of traversing almost any terrain while carrying 150kg on its back. It’s called BigDog, but I think it’s more of a big mountain goat that buzzes like a wasp. The video is great - BigDog stumbing around foolishly on black ice, and swaggers to reclaim balance after a guy kicks it with all his weight. Are we permitted a little schadenfreude for robotic animals?