Humanoid Robot Atlas Can Now Do Parkour

👉  Remember "Atlas", the robot that can run like a person? It can now do a lot more than that.

👉  Atlas is the latest in a line of advanced humanoid robots we are developing. Atlas' control system coordinates motions of the arms, torso, and legs to achieve whole-body mobile manipulation, greatly expanding its reach and workspace. Atlas' ability to balance while performing tasks allows it to work in a large volume while occupying only a small footprint.

👉  The Atlas hardware takes advantage of 3D printing to save weight and space, resulting in a remarkably compact robot with a high strength-to-weight ratio and a dramatically large workspace. Stereo vision, range sensing, and other sensors give Atlas the ability to manipulate objects in its environment and to travel on rough terrain. Atlas keeps its balance when jostled or pushed and can get up if it tips over.

👉  Atlas does parkour. The control software uses the whole body including legs, arms, and torso, to marshal the energy and strength for jumping over the log and leaping up the steps without breaking its pace. (Step height 40 cm.) Atlas uses computer vision to locate itself with respect to visible markers on the approach to hit the terrain accurately

👉  An earlier version of Atlas starred in the Darpa Robotics Challenge in 2015. Teams of researchers added their own technology to the robot, with varying degrees of success.

👉  As Atlas navigates the challenges of the obstacle course, a slow-motion sequence emphasizes the precision in its movements as it leaps between platforms, each one measuring about 16 inches (40 centimeters) high. Software and vision sensors control Atlas's navigation, according to the video description — nevertheless, the robot's coordination seems remarkably humanlike for a machine.

👉  Described on the Boston Dynamics website as "the world's most dynamic humanoid," Atlas has a four-limbed, bipedal frame that would invite comparison to the human body regardless of how the robot moved. But in a series of videos released over the last few years, Atlas demonstrates mobility this is uncannily human: recovering after being shoved, performing backflips, jogging over a grassy field and practicing robot parkour.

👉  The prospect of a humanoid robot that can leap, backflip and bound after you over rugged terrain is unsettling enough, but Atlas's creators at Boston Dynamics keep pushing the bot toward ever more ambitious gymnastic achievements.
What's next for the nimble Atlas? Only its designers know for sure.

For more information visit: https://www.bostondynamics.com/atlas