Oregon State University's Atrias, a robot designed to enter disastger zones, is getting in shape to make its debut at the Darpa Robotics Challenge in June. Unlike other bipedal robots, Assume the Robot Is a Sphere (Atrias) will attempt to walk and run using a spring-mass system that makes it more agile and less prone to falling down when confronted with uneven terrain. To prepare for the unexpected, the staff at OSU's Dynamic Robotics Laboratory is running Atrias through obstacle courses -- and hurling dodgeballs at it.

The U.S. Department of Defense's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) established the Robotics Challenge to develop robots that could be used in disaster zones that humans cannot enter. The robots would turn off valves, clear rubble and complete other tasks to help humans. In the DRC Finals 2015, 25 teams will compete for $3.5 million in prizes, with the winning team receiving $2 million. While Atrias is not among the competitors, it will demonstrate what could be in store for the future of these disaster robots.

Instead of trying to mimic the gait of a human, like Boston Dynamics' Atlas robot, Atrias is using a "spring-mass" model that's a bit like a pogo stick, according to OSU. "Atrias' unusual leg design is central to its agility and efficiency," the university explains on Atrias' website. "The four-bar carbon-fiber leg mechanism is very lightweight, softening each footfall instead of sending large jolts to the body. The legs are mounted to series-elastic fiberglass springs, which act both as a suspension and a means of mechanical energy storage." Atrias does not stand still and will not have feet; it stays standing by "stepping in place."

Atrias has been busy training and the team has been working on new ways to make the robot walk and complete tasks, such as a moving over obstacles. "The mathematics commonly used to control robotic walking just doesn’t work for Atrias," OSU explains. "This means that researchers at the Dynamic Robotics Laboratory, in collaboration with Dr. Hartmut Geyer's laboratory at Carnegie Mellon University, have been constantly inventing their own controllers to make Atrias go."