Marco Hutter - "The New Era of Mobility: Humanoids and Quadrupeds Enter the Real World"

In this talk

1. 0:05

   From research prototypes to industrial inspection

   Hutter traces his work from dynamically balancing quadrupeds at ETH Zurich to starting ANYbotics in 2016, now a company of about 200 people. Its robots inspect offshore, underground, and chemical facilities, collecting thermal, visual, and acoustic data and checking for anomalies. He says commercial systems depend on reliability, testing, and certification, not just mobility.

2. 7:54

   Useful machines need more than legs

   Hutter says legged robots have become widely available, making experimentation and new businesses easier, but building a robot that walks is now less challenging than making it commercially useful. He describes combining wheels and legs for efficient travel over long distances while still crossing obstacles, including for last-mile food and parcel delivery in parts of Zurich. He sees room for diverse robot designs rather than a single standard form.

3. 11:36

   Humanoids are advancing, but adoption takes time

   Hutter says humanoids are becoming a common sight, with more than 100 companies in China alone, major investment, and rapid demonstrations. Yet, outside entertainment, education, and research, he sees few examples of beneficial commercial use. He compares humanoids with quadrupeds, whose initial exhibition hype has given way to customer conversations and productive deployments.

4. 13:41

   Learning control and autonomy for real terrain

   Hutter identifies better hardware, reinforcement and imitation learning, and foundation models as drivers of progress. He describes simulation training, real-world data to improve simulation, and teacher-student learning for rough terrain, as well as combining vision with what a robot feels through its body. For navigation, he shows mapless exploration and semantic guidance that helped quadrupeds complete a 10-kilometer hike while avoiding hazards such as lakes and railways.

5. 33:13

   Apply robotics beyond humanoids

   Hutter cautions against overlooking other useful applications while attention focuses on humanoids. His group applies related learning and control methods to excavators, and Gravis Robotics equips earthmoving machines with sensors and compute for tasks such as grading, digging, and foundation work. He also shows robots building rock walls from two-ton objects and an autonomous foundation project.