WHEN Sony last month unveiled Qrio, a diminutive two-legged robot that can run like a human, it seemed like yet another breakthrough in a sequence of such advances in robotics. Only last year, a troupe of similar Sony biped robots performed a choreographed dance routine. And two years before that, Honda showed off a humanoid biped that walked with a confident swagger.
But while it is highly entertaining to see these robots doing their stuff, most robotics experts say Sony and Honda’s technology is little more than a red herring. They say walking and running are probably the least efficient,…
