the art & science of falling robots
Believe it or not, but scientists have made a point of studying robots that topple over. Quite a big point, even.
Lian Loke of Sydney University admits that "falling is not usually viewed as a desirable act for humanoid robots". However, in true academic spirit he spots in this an opportunity for robots to express themselves. In his work he explores how falling can be viewed as an aesthetic, creative act for robots.
Read his article "Falling Robots" (2017).
We find that such robots place themselves within a key tradition of conceptual artists photographing themselves falling, such as Bas Jan Ader (left, middle) and Yves Klein (right).
In 1992 already, researchers studied how robots could survive falls. One approach was to look at how cats do it, and to use that information in design guidelines for robot falling strategies.
Read more on Cameron & Arkin's study on "Survival of Falling Robots" (1992).
Just query "falling robots" in Google Scholar and see in what other ways scientist have studied robots tumbling over.
Sometimes robots simply fall without academics pushing them over. A famous case is that of a Knightscope security robot that nearly drowned itself in the company's fountain in 2017.
(photo from a tweet by @bilalfarooqui)
(photo at top of page: artwork "Goldie 1971" by Joe McCreary, a robot made from cast iron and steel, nearly 8m long, located at the University of Alabama)