Watch a Boston Dynamics Atlas Robot Grab and Throw, Just Like People Can – CNET [CNET]
When we saw Atlas slaying a parkour course in 2021, it had stubby appendages for hands. Today’s Atlas, star of a Boston Dynamics video released Wednesday, has grippers and a sense of show-robot-ship.
The video plays out as a work site vignette with a human who’s forgotten his tools while up on a high platform. The worker calls for Atlas to fetch his tool bag. The robot gamely builds a bridge, grabs the bag, hops to a higher spot and slings the bag up to its boss. It then performs a gymnastics-style dismount.
The video is a demonstration of the pincher-style hand grippers and the robot’s ability to alter its environment and accurately toss a heavy object to complete a task. A behind-the-scenes video goes into detail on how the robot is perceiving and manipulating items.
Atlas has come a long way. It was less than a decade ago that a CNET writer commented on an early version of the robot being “terrible at karate.” Boston Dynamics uses Atlas as a test bed to try out technologies and new robotic capabilities.
Another much-discussed humanoid robot is the AI-focused Tesla Optimus robot, which is a very different animal (excuse me — robot) from Atlas. It’s also in an earlier stage of development, so don’t expect any Atlas-Optimus face-offs in the near future. Both machines show how humanity is working toward the reality of the sci-fi dream of robots made in our own image.