The field of legged robotics is moving towards the development of more robust and versatile locomotion systems, with a focus on enhancing performance in complex environments. Recent research has explored the use of tactile sensing, adaptive control, and compliant design to improve the mobility and stability of legged robots. Notably, the integration of tactile sensors and feedback control has enabled robots to effectively navigate vertical obstacles and exhibit predictable climbing performance. Additionally, advancements in control algorithms, such as adaptive transpose Jacobian approaches, have shown promise in reducing errors and control input energy. Noteworthy papers include:

• Tactile sensing enables vertical obstacle negotiation for elongate many-legged robots, which proposes a tactile antenna system for obstacle detection and a control framework for dynamic adjustment of vertical body undulation.
• Versatile, Robust, and Explosive Locomotion with Rigid and Articulated Compliant Quadrupeds, which presents a template model and motion planning pipeline for achieving versatile and explosive motion with robustness against dynamic uncertainties.