19th January 2023

New video of Atlas robot

Boston Dynamics has trained its Atlas robot to develop a new set of skills.

In this video, the humanoid robot manipulates the world around it – interacting with objects and modifying the course to reach its goal – pushing the limits of locomotion, sensing, and athleticism.

"We're not just thinking about how to make the robot move dynamically through its environment, like we did in Parkour and Dance," said Scott Kuindersma, the company's team leader of research on Atlas. "Now, we're starting to put Atlas to work and think about how the robot should be able to perceive and manipulate objects in its environment.

"The dream of humanoids is that they should be able to do all the things that we do, right? A humanoid robot will be well suited for applications like manufacturing, factory work, constructions – where a humanoid form factor actually fits very well, with its bi-manual nature, its ability to stand upright, move heavy things around, and work in spaces that were traditionally designed for humans to do work in."

The final move in this video has been described by Boston Dynamics: "Atlas' concluding move, an inverted 540-degree, multi-axis flip, adds asymmetry to the robot's movement, making it a much more difficult skill than previously performed parkour."