Here is a really cool demonstration of soft body robotics and locomotion using “jamming”. As far as I can see they use a balloon filled with sand (kind of like those stress balls) and then suck the air out of it to make it maintain a more rigid shape. This seems like it would be fairly easy to replicate cheaply.
I have always been a big fan of designs based on bugs. Here is a new one that I founds at HackADay. As you can see it really scoots right along. It has pnuematic legs that are power by a master pump (I think). I would love to see what kind of terrain it can handle. You can see more at the projects page at Stanford.
Well maybe it isn’t autonomous quite yet but it’s a pretty cool start. If you have ever driven an ATV you know that these things can go almost anywhere.
