Atlas demos unique manipulation, mobility skills for humanoid

With all the momentum around commercializing humanoids, many may have forgotten about Boston Dynamics’ Atlas. The prototype has always served as an R&D platform, with certain technologies eventually making their way into the company’s other robots, Spot and Stretch.

In January 2023, Boston Dynamics released a video showing Atlas performing a task at a mock construction site inside its Waltham, Mass., headquarters. A “construction worker” atop a scaffold left his toolbag on the ground. Instead of hopping down to get the tools himself, Atlas brings the tools to him.

Atlas, using a claw gripper, picks up and manipulates a wooden plank to create a bridge for itself onto the scaffold. It then picks up a toolbag, runs onto the scaffold, spins around, and throws the toolbag up to the construction worker. Atlas then pushes a wooden box off the scaffold and flips and twists its way to the ground.

“The dream of humanoids is that they should be able to do all the things that we do, right?” Scott Kuindersma, Boston Dynamics’ team lead on Atlas, said in a behind-the-scenes video about the demonstration. “A humanoid robot will be well suited for applications like manufacturing, factory work, construction -- [places] 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.”

At press time, Boston Dynamics hadn’t disclosed any plans to commercialize Atlas. But this video, and many previous ones, should serve as reminders about Atlas’ leading mobility and manipulation skills. And if a commercial version of Atlas ever comes to market, it would likely jump to the front of the pack.

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