Boston Dynamics showcases robot Atlas's new skills and acrobatic moves
What's the story
Atlas, the human-like robot developed by Boston Dynamics, is once again grabbing headlines. This time, the bipedal robot has wowed us by performing not-so-easy tasks with astonishing ease and speed. In a video released by the company, Atlas can be seen running, climbing, jumping, and fetching and carrying tools in order to assist a person at the top of a multi-story scaffold.
Context
Why does this story matter?
The Atlas robot has left people speechless with its dance moves and has even navigated its way through a complex parkour course. Now the robot has acquired a whole new skill set, one that can in the future be useful for performing arduous on-site tasks. While the robot appears to glide through the task, it's evident that intensive work went into putting this together.
Video
The robot can now recognize and interact with objects
Atlas is seen interacting with objects in the video and ultimately achieves delivering the tool kit to the respective person. "Atlas grasps, carries, and tosses the tool bag, climbs stairs, jumps between levels, and pushes a large wooden block out of its way before dismounting with an inverted 540-degree flip that project engineers have dubbed the "Sick Trick," said the company on its blog.
Twitter Post
Check out the Atlas robot's new skillset
It’s time for Atlas to pick up a new set of skills and get hands on. pic.twitter.com/osOWiiBlSh
— Boston Dynamics (@BostonDynamics) January 18, 2023
Development
The robot makes a 180-degree turn while holding the plank
According to the company, one of the most impressive things about the whole act was the way Atlas manipulated the long wooden plank. As opposed to being careful while turning around, the robot makes a complete 180-degree spin while holding the plank, which means that the robot's control system had to be wary of the plank's momentum to avoid it from tipping over.
Official words
'The control software needed big updates'
"Parkour and dancing were interesting examples of pretty extreme locomotion, and now we're trying to build upon that research to also do meaningful manipulation," said Benjamin Stephens, Atlas controls lead. It's important that Atlas "can perform these tasks with a certain amount of human speed. People are very good at these tasks, so that has required some pretty big upgrades to the control software."
Movements
Atlas had to maintain its balance while performing the tasks
The part where Atlas shoves the wooden box from the platform before jumping on it was also not easy, explains the company. The robot would have had to initiate just enough force on the wooden block to make it fall, without losing its balance. Coming to the robot's backflip towards the end of the video, that was decidedly complicated even if it was smooth.
Future
It could take a while before robots perform real-world tasks
The team reveals that during testing, Atlas kept getting tangled in its limbs as it tucked its arms and legs for the flip. Engineers then had to troubleshoot and improve the control system so that the robot could pick strategies that would eliminate self-collisions. There is still a long way to go before robots can take up real-world tasks, said Stephens.