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Although interest in such multimodal, terrain-adaptive robots is increasing, their capacity for morphological reconfiguration often remains confined to specific body parts or comes at the expense of increased system complexity and reduced locomotion efficiency. Our study seeks to enhance robotic locomotion by developing robots that can actively reconfigure their morphology, altering their physical properties and leveraging their adaptability to navigate efficiently in diverse environments. We demonstrate how combining a compliant structure with morphological reconfiguration allowed a robot to transition between flat and spherical forms, enabling autonomous, multimodal locomotion\u2014driving, rolling, and swimming\u2014across complex terrains with minimal sensing. By actively reconfiguring its morphology to adapt physical properties for compliant interactions, the robot enhanced locomotion across rough, diverse environments. Leveraging its adaptability in different locomotion modes to navigate a 4.5-kilometer path across mountainous, aquatic, and urban terrains, the robot outperformed traditional and multimodal robots in terms of versatility, energy efficiency, and robustness. Developing versatile, energy-efficient, compliant robots capable of reconfiguring their morphology could substantially enhance autonomous navigation, opening up broader applications in unstructured environments, from environmental monitoring to disaster response and extraterrestrial exploration.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1126\/scirobotics.adp6419","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,26]],"date-time":"2025-02-26T19:01:56Z","timestamp":1740596516000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.34133\/aaas_crossmark","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":23,"title":["Robotic locomotion through active and passive morphological adaptation in extreme outdoor environments"],"prefix":"10.1126","volume":"10","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2891-1933","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Max","family":"Polzin","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"CREATE Lab, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland."}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5438-9232","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Qinghua","family":"Guan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CREATE Lab, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland."}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8410-3565","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Josie","family":"Hughes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CREATE Lab, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland."}]}],"member":"221","reference":[{"key":"e_1_3_2_2_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1126\/scirobotics.adg0279"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_3_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1126\/scirobotics.abc5986"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_4_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1126\/scirobotics.abk2822"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_5_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1088\/1748-3190\/ac92b3"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_6_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1109\/ACCESS.2023.3294276"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_7_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1109\/MRA.2011.2181683"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_8_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/544S21a"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_9_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1126\/scirobotics.adl1995"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_10_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/rob.21887"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_11_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/aisy.202100195"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_12_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s43154-020-00016-3"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_13_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3389\/frobt.2022.1059026"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_14_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tibtech.2013.03.002"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_15_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.1514591113"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_16_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1113\/jphysiol.1978.sp012461"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_17_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/jmor.10548"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_18_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"K. 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