A bipedal robot will then step out, and carry a package to your front door. That scenario is envisioned by Jonathan Hurst, an associate professor of robotics at Oregon State University, and chief technology officer of spin-off company Agility Robotics. To that end, his group has developed an ostrich-like two-legged walking robot … and it's called Cassie.

First of all, Cassie isn't intended to make deliveries in its present form. It's intended more as a developmental platform, to be utilized by other robotics companies and research institutes. In other words, a Cassie-derived robot may eventually come strolling up your front walk.

The team used a previous Oregon State-designed bipedal robot, ATRIAS, as its jumping-off point when designing Cassie. "ATRIAS had motors that would work against either other, which was inefficient," notes Hurst. "With Cassie, we've fixed this problem and added steering, feet, and a sealed system, so it will work outdoors in the rain and snow as we continue with our controller testing."