Explore cutting-edge robotics research in this 55-minute colloquium talk from the Paul G. Allen School's Spring 2021 Robotics series. Delve into two recent developments from Carnegie Mellon University's Robomechanics Lab, focusing on innovative robot design and advanced control techniques. Learn about cheetah-inspired aerodynamic robot tails that enhance legged robot agility, and discover the Salted Kalman Filter, a novel approach to state estimation for hybrid dynamical systems dealing with discontinuous impacts. Gain insights into legged locomotion, robust control, and bioinspired robotics from Assistant Professor Aaron Johnson, recipient of the NSF CAREER and ARO Young Investigator awards. The lecture covers a range of topics, including applications, challenges in robotics, and ongoing projects such as environmental monitoring robots and mobile manipulation systems.