---
title: "This Robot Dog Can Recover From a Vicious Kick Using AI"
description: "## Robot Gets Knocked Down"
date: "2019-01-16"
modified: "2019-01-16"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/robot-dog-kick-recover-ai"
categories:
  - "Robot Dogs"
  - "Robotics"
  - "Robots and Machines"
tags:
  - "anymal"
  - "artificial intelligence"
  - "robotics"
---

# This Robot Dog Can Recover From a Vicious Kick Using AI

![Researchers at ETH Zurich in Switzerland taught its four-legged robot dog how to get up after being kicked using AI — a valuable life skill.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/robot-get-up-kick-recover-ai.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: ETH Zurich\</em\>*

## Robot Gets Knocked Down

Researchers at ETH Zurich in Switzerland taught a four-legged robot dog a valuable life skill: how to get up again after it gets knocked down. And yes, it involved evil scientists kicking and shoving an innocent robot.

The researchers used an AI model to teach ANYmal, a doglike robot made by ANYbotics, how to right itself after being knocked onto its side or back in a variety of physical environments — as opposed to giving the robot a detailed set of instructions for only one specific environment.

https://youtu.be/aTDkYFZFWug

## But It Gets Up Again

The results were published in a [paper](<http://robotics.sciencemag.org/content/4/26/eaau5872>) today on *Science Robotics*. In simple terms, the robot tried again and again to right itself in simulation, and learned from instances when a movement didn't end up righting it. It then took what it learned and applied it to the real world.

It even learned how to run faster than it could before. Thanks to the neural network, ANYmal was also able to reach 1.5 metres per second or just over three mph in mere hours, [according to *New Scientist*](<https://www.newscientist.com/article/2190890-robot-dog-taught-itself-to-get-back-up-when-people-kick-it-over/>).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbN-fyh9fvo

## Never Gonna Keep It Down

Are we inching closer to a future where robot guard dogs chase us down to exact revenge on us, as seen on [Netflix's Black Mirror](<https://futurism.com/dark-future-autonomous-guard-dogs-black-mirror>)? Sure looks like it.

So perhaps it's time to stop kicking robot dogs — before we know it, they'll start learning how to protect themselves.

**READ MORE:** [Robot dog taught itself to get back up when people kick it over](<https://www.newscientist.com/article/2190890-robot-dog-taught-itself-to-get-back-up-when-people-kick-it-over/>) \[*New Scientist*\]

***More on ETH Zurich's ANYmal: [New robot dogs can deliver your lunch right to your desk](<https://futurism.com/robot-dogs-delivery-continental>)***

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)