A recent Scientific Computing article describes new mathematical techniques being used by researchers to model human movement and duplicate it in robots. The article talks about math behind the Waseda bipedal humanoid (WABIAN) robots developed by Atsuo Takanishi at the Takanishi Lab of Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan. Also mentioned is the 12 DOF bipedal model developed by Asif Mughal at the Control Systems Lab of the University of Arkansas. Software advances in transforming and solving differential algebraic equations (DAEs) are also contributing to improved robot movement. The article concludes, "Although the talking, overly-emotional robot of our movies may still be a few years away, a robot that can walk and carry our grand-parents' groceries may be only a few differential equations away."