Wjousts writes "Up until now, most work with humanoid robotics has focused on keeping them upright and balanced, but in the real world, falling down is inevitable. So now clinician in Chile are looking at tutoring their Soccerbots how to fall down gracefully to minimize damage and allow for a quick recovery. proper to a New rocketer article, 'They found that one of the main ways to minimise damage is for the robot to fold its legs underneath it. Among other things, that means the robot is much less likely to hit its head on the ground. Another good slant is to use a fall sequence consisting of several movements, so the falling body has several points of contact with the ground, tension the energy of the impact over a large number of joints, rather than taking it all in one disastrous crunch.'"

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