Boston Dynamics’ Atlas robot has gone, in the space of just eleven short years, from a tethered, lab-bound bipedal robot to a leaping, jumping robotic wonder. But now, the humanoid construct’s work is done.
The announcement was made via the company’s YouTube page in a final video giving the HD Atlas robotic platform a fitting sendoff. The short video (below) includes footage from the early days of the robot’s development, as well as some of the abuse it was put through over the years.
Atlas rising
According to the video’s description, “For almost a decade, Atlas has sparked our imagination, inspired the next generations of roboticists, and leapt over technical barriers in the field. Now it’s time for our hydraulic Atlas robot to kick back and relax.” Checking out the footage is remarkable as a quick retrospective but it also illustrates the challenges the robot has overcome.
A sequence of what can only be described as ‘bails’ are disconcertingly human in nature. Watching the robot miss a jump, lose its footing, and in some cases sustain injuries is hard not to sympathise with. There is also a recap of the robot’s high-water marks, including its recent feat of slinging a bag of tools around a simulated worksite.
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What’s next for Boston Dynamics’ humanoid robot program isn’t immediately clear but the video’s description does mention the “Atlas platform to date”, which suggests that there’s more to come. What could they possibly replace a hydraulic robot with, we wonder?