Hacker News Reader

I don't see any walking.

Agreed, the headline is a bit misleading. It can fly, roll on 4 wheels, or roll on 2 wheels.

The latter is interesting, but doesn't constitute "walking", especially when the point of walking (as a preferred method of locomotion) is to be able to step over obstacles or onto platforms like stairs, which rolling on two wheels obviously can't accomplish.

clearly you have a strong grasp of the article's content

> Joints on the wheel assemblies allow M4 to execute a walking motion. In M4's current iteration, the walking motion is mostly proof of concept. However, with anticipated advances, future M4 generations could possess the ability to effectively walk across broken terrain that a wheeled robot would struggle with.

Except that the provided demonstration isn't walking any more than using a Segway is walking.

it's pretty obvious that it can't actually walk.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com