board hydraulic pumps (hence the  guy in the background (me!) pulling hoses for the robot), and body  attitude is sensed with gyroscopes.  A human with a joystick tells  the robot what direction to go, and the control algorithms (which are  the real subject of Leg Lab research) maintain speed, direction, and  balance.     However, the robots arent designed for special effects. Theyre  always being modified, and they tend to break down frequently. This  made shooting in the hot july sun of the San Fernando Valley a real  nightmare, with transputers crashing in the heat, stuck gyros, and  hydraulic leaks.     Three grad students and a professor worked steadily for about a  month before Hollywood, and then five days on the set and on location  to get the robots in about 15 seconds of film.  The credits are:  Marc Raibert (our prof), and Charles Francois, Rob Playter and Lee  Campbell (me) who are students.  We three students appear in the film  in white lab coats acting like Robot Scientists!!