Don’t try to run, the robots will be able to find you. At least, that’s the case if someone decides to send Boston Dynamics’ Altas after you. We’ve seen Atlas running through fields, we’ve seen the guy landing backflips, and now Boston Dynamics’ bipedal robot can do parkour. Yeah, we’re doomed.
Okay, maybe we’re not doomed. Altas’ creators are just teaching him to move around effectively, not hunt down John Connor, but it’s still jarring to see a clearly mechanical creation moving around in a way very similar to actually-fit human beings. The log-hop in the video above is standard fare for the robot at this point but it’s the unhesitating bounces up a series of offset boxes that really sticks in the mind. It’s a quick trip to the uncanny valley but it’s one that we really have to take.
And that’s because these trials and tests are leading us towards robots that can move and function more like a human being — which is a very desirable event. If you need something to check the inside a nuclear reactor or set up a base on Mars, it’ll safer and perhaps more effective to drop off a humanoid robot than it will to send an actual human being. And the way Boston Dynamics is going, their tech is going to be at the fore of a lot of fronts. We just wonder what Atlas is going to be up to next. Hopefully it involves a skateboard, a flight of stairs, and a kickflip.
Source: Boston Dynamics