History of Passive Dynamics & Toys

Locomotion and Robotics - Overview
 Locomotion and Robotics - Papers

Passive Dynamic robots were invented and initially developed by aeronautical engineer Tad McGeer between 1988 and 1992, as inspired by simpler calculations from a decade earlier of Tom McMahon at Harvard and McMahon's student Simon Mochon. McMahon, in turn, had been inspired by a toy he was given in the early 1950s, probably a "Wilson Walkie".

The McGeer video shows the first time he tried a walker with knees, and then the first time he got it to walk without falling.
Video - McGeer's First Walker With Knees (MOV) (13.8 MB)

Old patents of walking toys (PDF):

Fallis, 1888 | Bechstein, 1912 | Mahan, 1914 | Allison, 1916 | Wilson, 1938 | Paolo, 1993

Want to make your own Wilson (1938) Walkie? Here's how
(by Matt Haberland, Cornell M-Eng 2007)

And newer: Peter Steinkamp's passive toys and machines

McGeer Papers:

bullet Powered flight, Child's play, Silly wheels and walking machines
McGeer, T.
IEEE International conference on Robotics and Automation, 3, 1592-1597, 1989
 
bullet Passive walking with knees (PDF)
McGeer, T.
IEEE International conference on Robotics and Automation, 3, 1640-1645, 1990
 
bullet Passive dynamic walking (PDF)
McGeer, T.
IJRR, Vol. 9, No. 2, 62-82, 1990
 
bullet Passive Bipedal running (PDF)
McGeer, T.
Proc Roy Soc London B 240, No. 1297, 107-134, 1990
 
bullet Passive Dynamic biped catalogue (PDF)
McGeer, T.
1991
 
bullet Principles of walking and running (PDF)
McGeer, T.
Chapter 4, Advances in Comparative and Environmental Physiology, Vol 11, Springer-Verlag, 1992
 
bullet Dyanamics and control of bipedal locomotion (PDF)
McGeer, T.
J. Theoretical Biology, 163, 277-314, 1993
 

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