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We now know why Hyundai Motor was so interested in Boston Dynamics. Forget about robots for construction, inspection or healthcare. Hyundai clearly was interested in its robot choreography skills.
Or not.
Set to The Contours’ “Do You Love Me,” Boston Dynamics’ entire lineup of robots – Atlas, Handle, and Spot – are seen cutting a serious rug. The dance moves are quite impressive, especially from Atlas. We’ve seen Spot do the “running man” and dance to “Uptown Funk” before. And we’ve seen Atlas go jogging, do gymnastics and parkour. But Atlas shows off some new skills, including a twisting ability that would make Chubby Checker jealous. The movements are so smooth the video doesn’t even look real.
The YouTube video description said, “Our whole crew got together to celebrate the start of what we hope will be a happier year: Happy New Year from all of us at Boston Dynamics.”
This was Boston Dynamics’ first YouTube video since Hyundai Motor acquired a controlling stake in the company for about $880 million. Hyundai became the third owner of Boston Dynamics in seven years. It was acquired by Google in 2013 and sold to Softbank Group in 2017. The RBR50 company has mainly operated as an R&D organization since it was founded. But a new emphasis on commercialization was evident after it was acquired by Softbank.
Michael Patrick Perry, vice president for business development at Boston Dynamics, joined us on The Robot Report Podcast a couple of weeks ago to discuss the Hyundai acquisition. He also said the company has some interesting things up its sleeve for 2021, including a gripper for Spot, updates on Atlas and Handle and more. He also told us about 400 Spot robots have been sold since it was commercialized in June 2020.
You can listen to the podcast below.
Certainly the dancing robots video is a good demonstration of the robot’s abilities. How long it can run on on charge is another issue completely, though. The robot might be great as a rescue robot in hazmat situations, if it can get past assorted rubble and blockages.
And certainly the robots might be useful in servicing situations where humans should not go.