Photos: Robo-Tokyo

One of the challenges of robot design is getting humanoid machines to walk without resembling Herman Munster on Ambien. But who's to say they have to walk in the first place? The RB2000 from Japanese robotics venture Vstone, seen here at a robot athletic event in Tokyo earlier this month, seems quite content to hang from its arms and swing like an Olympic gymnast. It's due to go on sale in December at a price of 79,800 yen ($695), though you have to build the robot yourself.