WhenQuando roboticistsgli firststudiosi attempteddi torobotica mimiciniziarono humani andprimi animaltentativi di imitare l'[[gaitandatura]]s,theydi discovereduomini thate itanimali, scoprirono che wasera incrediblyincredibilmente difficultdifficile; requiringera morerichiesta computationaluna powercapacità thandi whatcalcolo wasmolto availablesuperiore ata thequella timedisponibile all'epoca. Così So,si emphasisdiede wasenfasi shiftedad toaltre otheraree areasdi of researchricerca. Semplici Simplerobot wheeledcon robotsle wereruote usedfurono tousati conductper experimentscondurre inesperimenti su [[behaviorcomportamento]], [[navigationnavigazione]], ande [[pathstudio planningdel percorso]]. Quando gli ingegneri erano pronti Whena engineerstentare weredi readyfar tocamminare attemptdi walkingnuovo robotsi againrobot, they started small with [[hexapod]]s and other multi-legged platforms. These robots mimicked insects and arthropods in both form and function. The trend towards these body types offer immense flexibility and proven adaptability to any environment. With more than four legs, these robots are [[statically stable]] which makes them easier to work with. Only recently has progress been made towards [[bipedal locomotion]] in robots.
Recently, tremendous progress has been made in medical robotics, with two companies in particular, Computer Motion and Intuitive Surgical, receiving regulatory approval in North America, Europe and Asia for their robots to be used in minimal invasive surgical procedures. Laboratory automation is also a growing area. Here, benchtop robots are used to transport biological or chemical samples between instruments such as incubators, liquid handlers and readers. Other places where robots are likely to replace human labour are in [[deep-sea exploration]] and space exploration. For these tasks, [[arthropod]] body types are generally preferred. [[Mark Tilden|Mark W. Tilden]] formerly of [[Los Alamos National Laboratory|Los Alamos National Laboratories]] specializes in cheap robots with bent but unjointed legs, while others seek to replicate the full jointed motion of crabs' legs.
