# 3 Laws robot safety and the evolution of bipedal locomotion

- Show: [The Robot Report Podcast](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-robot-report-podcast)
- Published: 2024-02-16
- Length: 1h 13m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-robot-report-podcast/2024-02-16-3-laws-robot-safety-and-the-evolution-of-bipedal-locomotion
- Listen: https://soundcloud.com/robot-report-podcast/3-laws-robot-safety-and-the-evolution-of-bipedal-locomotion

## Summary

Dr. Aaron Ames, Professor at Caltech and co-founder of 3Laws Robotics, discusses the evolution of bipedal locomotion and the company's safety-critical controls architecture. He explains how his lab's research into dynamic walking and Control Barrier Functions (CBFs) led to the creation of 3Laws, a middleware solution that acts as a safety filter for any robotic system. Ames argues that while recent humanoid surges are driven by cheaper quadruped hardware and proof-of-concept demos, true commercial viability requires robust, dynamic walking algorithms rather than static, fragile models. The episode details the technical implementation of CBFs as lightweight, explainable safety layers that guarantee robots do not harm humans, regardless of the underlying autonomy or learning stack.

## Chapters

- [0:08](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-robot-report-podcast/2024-02-16-3-laws-robot-safety-and-the-evolution-of-bipedal-locomotion#t=8) Introduction: Podcast hosts and industry news roundup
- [17:16](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-robot-report-podcast/2024-02-16-3-laws-robot-safety-and-the-evolution-of-bipedal-locomotion#t=1036) Introduction: Dr. Aaron Ames and 3Laws Robotics
- [19:49](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-robot-report-podcast/2024-02-16-3-laws-robot-safety-and-the-evolution-of-bipedal-locomotion#t=1189) History of bipedal locomotion: From planar robots to DARPA challenges
- [29:45](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-robot-report-podcast/2024-02-16-3-laws-robot-safety-and-the-evolution-of-bipedal-locomotion#t=1785) The controls problem: ZMP, pogo sticks, and full nonlinear dynamics
- [37:23](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-robot-report-podcast/2024-02-16-3-laws-robot-safety-and-the-evolution-of-bipedal-locomotion#t=2243) The humanoid surge: Quadruped cost reduction and proof-of-concept demos
- [47:52](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-robot-report-podcast/2024-02-16-3-laws-robot-safety-and-the-evolution-of-bipedal-locomotion#t=2872) Safety and Control Barrier Functions: The origin of 3Laws
- [57:14](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-robot-report-podcast/2024-02-16-3-laws-robot-safety-and-the-evolution-of-bipedal-locomotion#t=3434) Technical implementation: Safety filters and middleware architecture
- [1:07:37](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-robot-report-podcast/2024-02-16-3-laws-robot-safety-and-the-evolution-of-bipedal-locomotion#t=4057) Conclusion: 3Laws website and future of robotic safety

## Topics

- [Robotics & autonomy](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/robotics-and-autonomy)
- [Mechanical engineering](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/mechanical-engineering)
- [Embedded firmware](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/embedded-firmware)
- [Security & privacy](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/security-and-privacy)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies

## Mentioned

- 3Laws Robotics (company)
- Caltech (other)
- Boston Dynamics (company)
- Tesla (company)
- Agility Robotics (company)
- Figure (company)
- Hello Robots (company)
- Anywhere Robotics (company)
- In Orbit (company)
- Mass Robotics (company)
- A3 (other)
- DARPA (other)
- NASA (other)
- SRI (company)
- MIT (other)
- Texas A&M (other)
- UCLA (other)
- University of Michigan (other)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [Episode 137: Getting two-legged robots moving - Oluwami Dosunmu-Ogunbi](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/robot-talk/2025-12-12-episode-137-getting-two-legged-robots-moving-oluwami-dosunmu-ogunbi) (Robot Talk)
- [Episode Thirty-One: Chris Atkeson](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/robot-talk/2023-01-06-episode-thirty-one-chris-atkeson) (Robot Talk)
- [Episode Three - Robot Locomotion: getting moving](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/robot-talk/2020-11-27-episode-three-robot-locomotion-getting-moving) (Robot Talk)
- [Episode Thirty: Ana Cavalcanti](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/robot-talk/2022-12-16-episode-thirty-ana-cavalcanti) (Robot Talk)
- [Episode Fifty-Four: Robot Talk Live - Robotics and Science Fiction](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/robot-talk/2023-06-23-episode-fifty-four-robot-talk-live-robotics-and-science-fiction) (Robot Talk)

## Citing this page

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