Blog #10 - Atlas of Tomorrow

     I'm sure most people have seen a clip or two of a bulky, bipedal robot leaping and flipping around an obstacle course. This robot, named Atlas, was developed by Boston Dynamics in 2016 as part of the R&D efforts into humanoid robotics.

     For as long as it has been in development, Atlas has stayed far ahead of the curve when it came to impressive displays of motion. However, while its performance was impressive, there wasn't much practical application. The platform required constant tuning and maintenance. The powerful legs relied on hydraulic systems and was prone to breaking and spewing oil all over. And if you've ever seen the outtakes reel, you can see that the demonstrations needed a lot of time and coordinated programming to get right.

    In 2024, Boston Dynamics announced the retirement of this version of Atlas and unveiled its new iteration. With all electronic servo joints, Atlas could now move more efficiently, fluidly and delicately. The physical design has been refined into a more human shape, with an articulated head and neck. This new platform is going to be used for more practical applications. And while the movement demonstrated so far has included less jumping, it is beyond impressive what they have accomplished.

    In this video, Atlas is shown to be capable of the most human like movement ever seen in robotics. Fluid sprinting, crawling on all fours, falling and rolling to a recovery, break dancing and cartwheeling. The physical capabilities of the new Atlas are incredible. 

    Although I've mighty reservations regarding generative AI, when it comes to this application, I am excited to see where it goes. With amazing physical capabilities and new ways to teach robots to interact with the world around them, the future of robotics is exciting                                                                               to say the least.