Tucked away in a sleepy one-story office complex in Mountain View, California, Trevor Blackwell is trying to get a robot to walk.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Mr. Zapolsky proposed teaching the robot to walk a dog.

FORBES: Robots Are Learning To Take Care Of Pets

Beyond the challenges of getting a robot to walk and kick, there is the task of locating a ball, which involves vision and localization, and knocking it into a goal, which requires strategizing abilities.

FORBES: Why Do Robots Play Soccer?

Building a robot that can stand and walk on two legs like a human is challenging enough -- but what about a robot that swims like a human?

ENGADGET: Inhabitat's Week in Green: 30-foot 'Buckyball', Olympic stadium Lego replica and the 'Mantabot'

Put a computer in a robot body and it can walk from cubicle to cubicle handing out assignments, checking on progress, and adjusting schedules and budgets on the fly.

FORBES: Why Robots Would Make Lousy Middle Managers

Honda's robot, ASIMO, is humanoid and can walk, talk and respond to commands.

ECONOMIST: Schumpeter

Dilworth has high hopes for this new robot--he is sure that it will be able to walk faster and turn with more agility than Troody can.

FORBES: Dinosaur Robots For Sale

Dilworth, Troody's creator, hopes the pigeon-sized robot will be mother to a whole race of dinosaur-like robots that will walk around museums, entertaining and educating children.

FORBES: Dinosaur Robots For Sale

Those also give the robot a decent range of movement, although it hasn't yet learned to fully walk (that's one area the company suggests could be expanded upon by others).

ENGADGET: Insert Coin semifinalist: cSpring bipedal robot platform hands-on (video)

Using a new technology Honda calls "i-Walk, " which includes the ability to predict and react to sudden movements, this robot walks more smoothly and naturally than its predecessors.

FORBES: Ten O'Clock Tech: Robots Dawning