https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/01/230131101858.htm

Led by a team of researchers at The Ohio State University, the study published recently in the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) 2022 describes a framework for testing and characterizing the safety of legged robots, machines that, unlike their wheeled counterparts, rely on mechanical limbs for movement. The study found that many current legged robotic models don't always act predictably in response to real-life situations, meaning it's hard to predict whether they'll fail -- or succeed -- at any given task that requires movement.

"Our work reveals that these robotic systems are complex and, more importantly, anti-intuitive," said Bowen Weng, a PhD student in electrical and computer engineering at Ohio State. "It means you can't rely on the robot's ability to know how to react in certain situations, so the completeness of the testing becomes even more important."