Boston Dynamics’ humanoid robot has been pushed, thrown in the world all by itself and every single time, he he got back up on its wobbly feet, ready to keep on “fighting”. Needless to say, we thought the bot had reached its limits. Instead, Atlas showed us that was only the warm-up. It turns out Atlas can be quite the parkour sensation #machinemobile
After Google sold Boston Dynamics to Softbank, the robotics company and its biggest achievements took a step back from social media. The hiatus came to an end yesterday, when the team uploaded a new video showing off Atlas’ new skills. It seems that in the last year, the robot learned quite a few tricks. It not only got more steady, but it’s apparently stable enough to execute controlled jumps and backflips.
We even dare say it could give a parkour beginner a run for its money. Atlas is the same sturdy, tall robot you’ve met one year ago. The difference is it can now jump from box to box, each time higher, without losing its balance. Moreover, Atlas’ landing is not bad at all – we wouldn’t be surprised to see it starting in the Olympics one day as the first gymnast robot.
For now, though, it can spin in the air and perform a flawless backflip! The move is pretty standard for humans that do parkour, but for a humanoid bot who we’ve seen stumble and fall dozens of times before, it’s quite the feat:
Impressive, right? Ok, ok, maybe you’ve seen machine do this in movies but we’re talking real life here, don’t forget. Also, did you see Boston Dynamics’s teaser of a new dog-bot, SpotMini on their channel this week? It’s worth a look:
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