When Boston Dynamics first revealed their ATLAS robot on July 11, 2013, the bipedal humanoid robot was a clunky, slow moving contraption tethered to a jumble of cords that performed a variety of controlled tasks awkwardly. Still, we were all impressed by the ATLAS robot’s humanlike legs and frame that no doubt offered a tantalizing glimpse into the near future of robotics.
Fast forward a year, and with help from the Florida Institute for Human & Machine Cognition (IHMC), the ATLAS robot has received some serious programming updates that enable it to walk like a human with more agility and control than ever before. As you can see in the video below, the ATLAS robot can walk over a series of raised steps with ease. Even more impressive is the robot’s ability to walk over a pile of jumbled cinder blocks while easily maintaining its balance. Although the ATLAS continues to perform these tasks slowly, its increased coordination and expanded capabilities are important milestones achieved that will only improve with time to include even greater agility and eventually, speed.
Although built by Boston Dynamics, the ATLAS project is unique in that multiple robotics teams around the nation can get their hands on one to test the extent of their programming skills in preparation for the DARPA Robotics Challenge, which “aims to develop semi-autonomous ground robots that can do ‘complex tasks in dangerous, degraded, human-engineered environments.’” The winner of the challenge is awarded $2 million.
Can’t wait to
fear see what next year’s ATLAS advances will bring!