Abstract: A legged robot system has a medial body with first and second ends, slidably and rotatably attached to a lateral body with first and second ends via a locomotion mechanism configured to provide at least first and second degrees of freedom of movement for the lateral body relative to the medial body, a plurality of prismatic legs extending downward from positions on the lateral or medial bodies, each leg having a drive mechanism for extending the leg, wherein the first leg provides a third degree of freedom relative to its position on the lateral or medial body, and the second leg provides a fourth degree of freedom relative to its position on the lateral or medial body, and a differential mechanism connecting the first and second legs providing a fifth degree of freedom of movement for the first and second leg relative to each other.