Boston Dynamics' Next Gen Atlas Robot Takes Abuse From Its Master, Plots Skynet Revenge
Google-owned Boston Dynamics as released new footage of its latest robot called Atlas, and it's both marvelous and frightening at the same time. It's marvelous because we see just how advanced the company's bipedal robot is at this point, with movements that eerily mimic that of a human, and frightening because they're incredibly difficult to topple—let's hope they never turn on us.
"A new version of Atlas, designed to operate outdoors and inside buildings. It is specialized for mobile manipulation. It is electrically powered and hydraulically actuated. It uses sensors in its body and legs to balance and LIDAR and stereo sensors in its head to avoid obstacles, assess the terrain, help with navigation and manipulate objects. This version of Atlas is about 5-feet 9-inches tall (about a head shorter than the DRC Atlas) and weighs 180 lbs," Boston Dynamics says.
The video begins with Atlas springing to life amid a row of robots inside a building. It makes its way to the door, pushes it open, and begins traversing the snow filled terrain. On more than one occasion, Atlas loses its balance due to the unsteady ground, but in each instance, it quickly (and awkwardly) adjusts itself so that it doesn't tip over.
Later on in the video, Atlas is shown bending down at the knees to pick up a 10-pound box, only to have an engineer with a hockey stick knock the box out of Atlas' robotic hands. The bullying continues with the engineer placing the end of the hockey stick in Atlas' chest and thrusting it backwards, though remarkably, Atlas maintains its balance.
It's not impossible to knock Atlas to the ground, as we're shown towards the end of the video. With a quick and hard push from behind, Atlas face plants into the pavement. Atlas sits there motionless for a few seconds, probably plotting his revenge, before maneuvering itself on all four limbs and quickly standing up again.
It's a rather awesome demonstration, let's just hope our future robotic overlords never see the video.
"A new version of Atlas, designed to operate outdoors and inside buildings. It is specialized for mobile manipulation. It is electrically powered and hydraulically actuated. It uses sensors in its body and legs to balance and LIDAR and stereo sensors in its head to avoid obstacles, assess the terrain, help with navigation and manipulate objects. This version of Atlas is about 5-feet 9-inches tall (about a head shorter than the DRC Atlas) and weighs 180 lbs," Boston Dynamics says.
The video begins with Atlas springing to life amid a row of robots inside a building. It makes its way to the door, pushes it open, and begins traversing the snow filled terrain. On more than one occasion, Atlas loses its balance due to the unsteady ground, but in each instance, it quickly (and awkwardly) adjusts itself so that it doesn't tip over.
Later on in the video, Atlas is shown bending down at the knees to pick up a 10-pound box, only to have an engineer with a hockey stick knock the box out of Atlas' robotic hands. The bullying continues with the engineer placing the end of the hockey stick in Atlas' chest and thrusting it backwards, though remarkably, Atlas maintains its balance.
It's not impossible to knock Atlas to the ground, as we're shown towards the end of the video. With a quick and hard push from behind, Atlas face plants into the pavement. Atlas sits there motionless for a few seconds, probably plotting his revenge, before maneuvering itself on all four limbs and quickly standing up again.
It's a rather awesome demonstration, let's just hope our future robotic overlords never see the video.
