A short film demonstrates the bipedal machine’s agility and skill.
At the time that Boston Dynamics made the announcement on Tuesday that it will be discontinuing the hydraulic version of Atlas, there were a few indications that the company was not quite finished with humanoid robots. The following day, Boston Dynamics did, in fact, present a model that is entirely powered by electric power.
In the beginning, Atlas was conceived of as a robot that might do search and rescue operations. Boston Dynamics asserts that the most recent model is intended for use in real-world scenarios. The article refers to Atlas as “the world’s most dynamic humanoid robot,” and it appears to have a lot of flexibility.
During the course of the film, Atlas can be seen lying on its back and then turning its feet over in order to exert itself into a standing position. After that, the robot rotates its head through 180 degrees, and then it rotates its torso. Despite the fact that the rotations of the legs and the rest of the body seem a little unsettling, it is an outstanding display of balance and flexibility.
In comparison to its predecessor, the electric Atlas looks to have a more streamlined appearance. The former appeared to be a person dressed in an exosuit. Atlas’s head, which is devoid of any facial features, resembles a ring light in appearance rather than having a face with human traits.
From the perspective of Boston Dynamics, the next generation of automobile production technology that Hyundai, the parent company, is developing is the “perfect testing ground for new Atlas applications.” In the next months and years, it intends to demonstrate what the robot is truly capable of doing, and initially, it will put Atlas through its paces with a select number of partners.
In order to ensure that Atlas is suited for a wide range of commercial applications, the business is investigating novel gripper systems. At the same time, they are building on the prior parkour-capable model’s capacity to lift and move a variety of large and uneven objects. In addition to asserting that the new Atlas will be more powerful than its predecessor, the company is confident in its ability to bring a humanoid robot to market.
Atlas may have a human-like form factor, but we are equipping the robot to move in the most effective way possible to complete a task. Instead of being bound by a human range of motion, Atlas will be able to move in the most efficient way feasible. According to a blog post written by Boston Dynamics, “Atlas will move in ways that significantly exceed human capabilities.” “Combining decades of practical experience with first principles thinking, we are confident in our ability to deliver a robot uniquely capable of tackling dull, dirty and dangerous tasks in real applications.”
There are a lot of companies working on humanoid robots, and Boston Dynamics is not the only one. The Menteebot, which can be operated through the use of voice commands that are based on natural language, was just brought into being this morning. Tesla, of course, is working on developing one.
Boston Dynamics, on the other hand, has been working on robots with this form factor for well over a decade, which is significantly longer than the majority of competitors. Given the current state of affairs, it is possible that it is in the best position to bring a humanoid robot into businesses and perhaps households. On the other hand, prior to that, you could anticipate seeing some videos in which the electric Atlas demonstrates some impressive dance moves.