Quadruped Robot Design Papers
Surveys
- A Study on Quadruped Mobile Robots (2023, Mechanism and Machine Theory, Vol. 190) [Paper]
- Quadruped Robots: Bridging Mechanical Design, Control, and Applications (2025, Robotics, 14(5)) [Paper]
Robot Papers by Actuation and Size
Masses are as reported in each paper. Robots are sorted by year within each table.
1. Hydraulic (45–91 kg)
| Robot | Title | Year | Mass | Venue | Links |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HyQ | Design of HyQ – a Hydraulically and Electrically Actuated Quadruped Robot | 2011 | 91 kg | Proc. IMechE Part I | Paper · Video |
| HyQ2Max | Design of the Hydraulically Actuated, Torque-Controlled Quadruped Robot HyQ2Max | 2017 | 80 kg | IEEE/ASME T-Mech 22(2) | Paper · Lab Channel |
| LIGHTDOG | Design of LIGHTDOG: A high payload-to-weight, hose-less hydraulic quadrupedal robot | 2025 | 45 kg | IJRR 45(2) | Paper |
2. Electric
2.1 Small-sized (2–9 kg)
| Robot | Title | Year | Mass | Venue | Links |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MIT Super Mini Cheetah | The MIT Super Mini Cheetah: A small, low-cost quadrupedal robot for dynamic locomotion | 2015 | 9 kg | IEEE SSRR 2015 | Paper |
| Minitaur | Design Principles for a Family of Direct-Drive Legged Robots | 2016 | 5 kg | IEEE RA-L 1(2) | Paper · Video / Article |
| Stanford Doggo | Stanford Doggo, an open source quasi-direct drive quadruped | 2019 | 4.8 kg | ICRA 2019 | Paper · Video · GitHub |
| Stoch, IISc | Design, Development and Experimental Realization of A Quadrupedal Research Platform: Stoch | 2019 | 3.1 kg | ICRA 2019 | Paper · Video |
| Stoch 2, IISc | Gait Library Synthesis for Quadruped Robots via Augmented Random Search | 2019 | ~4 kg | arXiv preprint | Paper |
| Solo | An Open Torque-Controlled Modular Robot Architecture for Legged Locomotion Research | 2020 | 2.2 kg | ICRA 2020 | Paper · Project Page |
2.2 Small-mid-sized (9–13 kg; Mini Cheetah class, highly dynamic)
| Robot | Title | Year | Mass | Venue | Links |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UIUC Panther | Design and experimental implementation of a quasi-direct-drive leg for optimized jumping | 2017 | 5.5 kg | IROS 2017 | Paper · PhD Thesis (Yanran Ding) |
| MIT Mini Cheetah | Mini Cheetah: A Platform for Pushing the Limits of Dynamic Quadruped Control | 2019 | 9 kg | ICRA 2019 | Paper · Video · Blog · Gear-width-Calc |
| PADWQ | Design and Control of a Open-Source, Low Cost, 3D Printed Dynamic Quadruped Robot | 2021 | 12.7 kg | Applied Sciences 11(9) | Paper |
2.3 Mid-sized (15–33 kg)
| Robot | Title | Year | Mass | Venue | Links |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| StarlETH | StarlETH: A Compliant Quadrupedal Robot for Fast, Efficient, and Versatile Locomotion | 2012 | 23 kg | CLAWAR 2012 | Paper · Robot Page |
| MIT Cheetah | Design Principles for Highly Efficient Quadrupeds and Implementation on the MIT Cheetah Robot | 2013 | 33 kg | ICRA 2013 | Paper |
| XDog | Mechanical Design of a Modular Quadruped Robot – XDog | 2014 | 15 kg | MEIC 2014 | Paper |
| ANYmal | ANYmal - A Highly Mobile and Dynamic Quadrupedal Robot | 2016 | ~30 kg | IROS 2016 | Paper · Video |
| Stoch-3, IISc | A Chain-Driven, Sandwich-Legged Quadruped Robot: Design and Experimental Analysis | 2025 | ~25 kg | arXiv / AIR | Paper · arXiv · Website · Video |
2.4 Big-sized (41–50 kg)
| Robot | Title | Year | Mass | Venue | Links |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MIT Cheetah 3 | MIT Cheetah 3: Design and Control of a Robust, Dynamic Quadruped Robot | 2018 | 45 kg | IROS 2018 | Paper |
| Tachyon, Sony | Tachyon: Design and Control of High Payload, Robust, and Dynamic Quadruped Robot with Series-Parallel Elastic Actuators | 2021 | 41 kg | IROS 2021 | Paper |
| KAIST HOUND | Design of KAIST HOUND, a Quadruped Robot Platform for Fast and Efficient Locomotion with Mixed-Integer Nonlinear Optimization of a Gear Train | 2022 | 45 kg | ICRA 2022 | Paper · Video |
| Kirin | Prismatic Quasi-Direct-Drives for Dynamic Quadruped Locomotion with High Payload Capacity | 2022 | 50 kg | Int. J. Mech. Sci. 235 | Paper · Video |
| Barry | Barry: A High-Payload and Agile Quadruped Robot | 2023 | ~48 kg | IEEE RA-L 8(11) | Paper |
| RAIBO, KAIST | RaiBo: A versatile robo-dog that runs through a sandy beach at 3 meters per second | 2023 | not published | News | Article · Video |
| RAIBO2, KAIST | RAIBO2: Highly efficient quadruped robot completing full marathon with a single battery charge | 2025 | 43–45 kg | Research Square preprint | Paper · Video |