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New video shows Boston Dynamics’ Atlas humanoid robot performing tasks with no help from humans. All of the robots motions are generated autonomously.
As the company explains in the description of the video showing Atlas performing its tasks, “Atlas is autonomously moving engine covers between supplier containers and a mobile sequencing dolly. The robot receives as input a list of bin locations to move parts between.
“Atlas uses a machine learning (ML) vision model to detect and localize the environment fixtures and individual bins. The robot uses a specialized grasping policy and continuously estimates the state of manipulated objects to achieve the task.
“There are no prescribed or teleoperated movements; all motions are generated autonomously online. The robot is able to detect and react to changes in the environment (e.g., moving fixtures) and action failures (e.g., failure to insert the cover, tripping, environment collisions) using a combination of vision, force, and proprioceptive sensors.”
Creepy, right?
That’s nothing compared to another video of Atlas that Boston Dynamics shared on Halloween, showing the humanoid robot dressed up in a hot dog costume performing those same tasks.
“Why build a humanoid robot? Because the world is designed for humans, including all the best Halloween costumes!” the company wrote in the video’s description.
“We don’t believe humanoid robots should be limited by looking or moving exactly like people, but there’s big advantages to a robot that can fit in as well as stand out. We designed Atlas to be capable, intelligent, and robust, so even when a pesky pickle moves a dolly, the robot can autonomously recognize its new position and complete its task.”
Don’t be too surprised if you don’t have nightmares tonight after watching this.
In other robot news, Boston Dynamics’ robot dog Spot can now play fetch, according to a new study published this month in the journal IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters.
So, fully expect to see a video at some point soon of Atlas throwing a ball to Spot and Spot returning it to Atlas like they’re actual real living things.