Boston Dynamics have released a video of their new robot named Atlas. The video shows how Atlas can manoeuvre, leap, somersault, and backflips. Atlas completes complex obstacle courses almost flawlessly.
‘It can be frustrating sometimes, the robots crush a lot, it’s not the robot just magically deciding to parkour, it’s kind of a choreographed routine, much like a skateboard video or a parkour video, where it’s an athlete that’s practised these moves dozen or hundreds of times to get to that exciting high-level capability. We learn a lot in terms of how to build robots that can survive falling on their face and getting back up and doing it again. we also learn a lot about the behaviour, the control, the thing that puts one foot in front of the other’.
Benjamin stephens, Atlas control lead in the video.
Atlas has one of the world’s most compact mobile hydraulic systems. Its advanced control system enables highly diverse and agile locomotion, while algorithms reason through complex dynamic interactions involving the whole body and environment to plan movements. Atlas uses 3D printed parts to give it the strength-to-weight ratio necessary for leaps and somersaults.
