Humanoid & robot atlas
Adaptive Suspension Vehicle (ASV)
Photo: Ohio State University (official image), from library.osu.edu. Image policy
RetiredUnited StatesAssisted

Ohio State University · legged machine

Adaptive Suspension Vehicle

ASV

A three-tonne, six-legged walker funded by DARPA from 1981, powered by a 900cc motorcycle engine driving hydraulic pumps. It took its first steps in late 1985 and the programme ended around 1990.

Price
—Not published
Height
300 cmTaller than 82%
Weight
2700 kgHeavier than 92%
Payload
220 kgCarries more than 56%
Speed
13.0 km/hFaster than 89%
Battery
—Not published
Simulate in your job Compare

Not sure this is the one? Find the best robot for your job Starts with: research and teaching. Five more quick questions.

Why it matters

One of the largest computer-coordinated walking machines ever built: a rider steered while 17 onboard computers placed its six legs.

Real-world use

DARPA / US Army research programme (1981-1990)

Timeline

First shown
1985-12
Released
Not yet
First steps at Ohio State (some sources say 1986)

Maker

Ohio State UniversityUniversity lab · Columbus, Ohio, USA

DARPA (about $1 million a year, reported)

How it stacks up

Against other legged & novel that publish the figure. Pick a measure.

  1. Walking Forest Machine (Plusjack)Plustech Oy (Timberjack R&D unit, later John Deere) · 1999450 cm
  2. AmblerCarnegie Mellon University Field Robotics Center (with NASA JPL) · 1990350 cm
  3. Dante IICarnegie Mellon University Field Robotics Center (for NASA) · 1994305 cm
  4. Adaptive Suspension Vehicle (ASV)Ohio State University · 1985300 cm
  5. i-footToyota · 2004236 cm
  6. ODEX I (Functionoid)Odetics, Inc. · 1983198 cm
  7. RHexDARPA-funded consortium (University of Michigan, McGill University and others); commercial version by Boston Dynamics · 200120 cm
  8. ACM-R5HTokyo Institute of Technology (Hirose lab); product version by HiBot · 200512 cm

Adaptive Suspension Vehicle (ASV) is taller than 82% of the 22 other legged & novel that publish a height. Bars show the 7 closest in date.

Height 300 cm 5 cm450 cm #5 of 23 · taller than 82%

Not published by the maker: joints, battery, price.

Public attention

A historic robot: no longer sold or in use, so it is not ranked against current machines.

  • No Wikipedia article of its own yet
  • 2 news stories from reputable press listed on this page

Measures how much people read and write about a robot, not how good it is. Measured 2026-10-14; same method for every robot. How it is measured

What’s inside

The parts the company has talked about publicly.

Movement
Walks on legs
How it runs
Assisted. A driver in the cab steered with a joystick while onboard computers placed the six legs and kept the body level.
Actuators & motors
Two-stage hydraulic system: a 900 cc motorcycle engine (about 91 hp) and a flywheel drive 18 variable-displacement pumps (three per leg); pantograph legs.
Sensors & vision
82 sensed control variables; foot pressure sensors; a 128x128-pixel scanning rangefinder above the cab for footing selection.
Compute
17 Intel 86/30 single-board computers (six for the legs); about 150,000 lines of Pascal.
AI & software
Supervisory control by an on-board operator using joystick and keypad; six modes including precision footing, terrain following and cruise/dash.
Other details
About 5.2 m long, 2.7 t, 220 kg payload; cruise about 2.25 m/s, maximum 3.6 m/s (reported). DARPA funded roughly $1 million a year.

From the maker

Adaptive Suspension Vehicle (ASV) is the only machine from Ohio State University in the atlas.

Made, sold and where

Unit counts are usually company figures; analysts often disagree.

Price
Not published
How to get one
No official buying page found
Built
One research vehicle
Sold or delivered
not sold
Where it is sold or used
Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
Customers and pilots
DARPA / US Army research programme (1981-1990)

News

The latest 2, newest first. Summaries are ours; tap through for the original.

  1. Gigazine revisits the Army's six-legged walker

    Gigazine described the 1980s Army and Ohio State project to build a giant six-legged walking vehicle.

    GIGAZINE
  2. The Drive on the 1980s walking truck

    The Drive recounted how DARPA and Ohio State built the ASV, detailing its engine, flywheel, pumps and 17 computers.

    The Drive

Sources

Figures come from press coverage. Every link below backs something on this page.

The Drive The US Army Spent Millions Developing Giant, Six-Legged Walking Trucks in the 1980s shvachko.net Adaptive Suspension Vehicle Gigazine The U.S. Army was developing a '6-legged giant robot' in the 1980s

Photos and logos only identify each robot and its maker. Simbeing is not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsing any company, and nothing here is advertising. Figures are for statistics only and are not advice of any kind. Terms of use