Boston Dynamics has unveiled a new version of its Atlas humanoid robot, showing its creepy movements that make it look like something out of a sci-fi horror movie.
The Massachusetts-based robotics company shared a video of the latest humanoid, showing it pulling its leg behind its heads to stand up – in a way that the public said ‘looked like something out of The Exorcist.’
This new version boasts joints that let the machine bend and move in ways that the human body can’t – unlike the original, rigid Atlas that was famous for dancing and doing parkour.
The company also plans to sell the latest humanoid robot, but the price has yet to be disclosed, and it is set to begin its first job at Hyundai’s factories next year.
Boston Dynamics announced the new version of its humanoid robot Atlas, featuring a ring light as its face.
The new robot appeared to move completely different compared to the old one, which was shown in the video announcement.
In the clip, new Atlas can be seen rising from the floor with eerie, smooth precision before rotating 180 degrees at the waist and neck.
The old Atlas had hydraulic actuators at its joints, which moved by pumping pressurized fluid in and out of them.
This type of system is powerful, enabling the robot to run and jump with twitching speed and intensity.
But it’s not very smooth, and the robot could only move each joint about 20 degrees.
Human elbows, by comparison, can bend about 130 to 153 degrees.
For the new Atlas, Boston Dynamics ditched the hydraulics in favor of an all-electric design.
This offers multiple advantages, the company has claimed: The electric motors in the joints will be stronger than the hydraulic actuators, and they will offer a broader range of motion.
The new Atlas can rotate 360 degrees at all of its joints.
The new design will also give the robot more ways to grip and carry objects, Boston Dynamics claimed.
The new Atlas has all electric joints that can swivel 360 degrees, so even though it looks humanoid, it can move much more flexibly than the human body can.
This is important because Boston Dynamics intends for the new Atlas to be used in manufacturing, carrying parts to and from the assembly line.
Therefore, it’s important for Atlas ‘to meet a diverse set of expected manipulation needs in customer environments,’ according to the company’s announcement.
In other words, it will be able to carry different things.
This robot is not a forklift with legs, though. In fact, it is not even meant to be able to carry boxes at all.
In many cases, the parts entrusted to Atlas will be bulky, or they will be unusually shaped, so it’s important for the robot’s arms to be able to accommodate many different shapes and sizes.
And while it is shaped like a human, the robot is designed to move ‘in the most efficient way possible to complete a task, rather than being constrained by a human range of motion.’
In the announcement video, Atlas can be seen slowly rising from the floor, unencumbered by the usual limits of human joints.
The new Atlas has a blank, round face with a light. This is a major change from the old Atlas, which did not have a head that could move around.
In the 11 years since Boston Dynamics first announced Atlas, the change to electric joints is a major overhaul.
And rightly so, according to Robert Playter, chief executive at Boston Dynamics.
‘We wanted to have a machine that, when we did announce, said to the world that Boston Dynamics just set the bar for humanoids again,’ he told the Boston Globe.
In the time since the company started sharing videos of Atlas, it seems like everyone has gotten into the humanoid robot sector.
Tesla has been working on its Optimus robot, sharing a video of it walking around the factory with a shuffling but smooth gait this February.
In October, Amazon announced plans to begin using humanoid robots in its warehouses.
Residents in the Bronx, New York stopped dead in their tracks as the four-legged robotic dog trotted down East 227th Street in February 2021.
But Playter said Atlas will be at home in factories, not warehouses.
‘It’s really the logistics within factories of moving the part to the assembly line,’ he said, pointing out that the average factory robot has difficulty handling odd shapes. ‘I don’t really think it’s boxes. If you’re going to pick up boxes or bins, there’s another robot you should go build.’
If all goes well with the Hyundai factory test run next year, Boston Dynamics will expand to a small number of other manufacturers.
Atlas is poised to be the company’s third commercial robot, after the dog-like Spot and the box-unloading Stretch.
Spot rolled out in 2019, and in 2021 it earned and lost a place on the New York Police Department.
The NYPD had allegedly planned to use the dog in hazardous rescue missions, but the city canceled the contract after outcry over concerns that the expensive robots were part of excessive police militarization.
In 2021, the company came out with Stretch, which is meant to load and unload boxes on trucks and warehouse floors.
WHAT IS BOSTON DYNAMICS’ ATLAS HUMANOID ROBOT?
Atlas the most human-like robot in Boston Dynamic’s line-up.
It was first unveiled to the public on 11 July 11 2013.
According to the company, Atlas is a ‘high mobility, humanoid robot designed to negotiate outdoor, rough terrain’.
Atlas measures 1.5m (4.9ft) tall and weighs 75kg (11.8st).
The humanoid walks on two legs, leaving its arms free to lift, carry, and manipulate objects in its environment.
Atlas is able to hold its balance when it is jostled or pushed by an external force. Should it fall over, the humanoid robot is capable of getting up again on its own
Stereo vision, range sensing and other sensors allow Atlas to walk across rough terrain and keep its balance.
‘In extremely challenging terrain, Atlas is strong and coordinated enough to climb using hands and feet, to pick its way through congested spaces,’ Boston Dynamics claims.
Atlas is able to hold its balance when it is jostled or pushed.
If the humanoid robot should fall over, it can get up on its own.
Atlas is designed to help emergency services in search and rescue operations.
The robot will be used to shut-off valves, opening doors and operate powered equipment in environments where human rescuers could not survive.
The US Department of Defence said it has no interest in using Atlas in warfare.
Atlas is capable of —
- Standing up after falling over
- Running
- Balancing on a narrow beam
- Cleaning, including vacuuming and sweeping
- Karate kick
- Throwing a paper aeroplane
