With their great capacity, robots have invaded various industries and reformed the world in many ways. Over the last ten years, the field of robotics has remarkably improved.
Now, according to NDTV, a robotics and engineering firm from America has released a fresh humanoid robot prototype that is capable of performing various human tasks.
Meet "Atlas," Boston Dynamics' Humanoid Robot
Last Wednesday, Boston Dynamics issued a demo of Atlas, its very own humanoid robot. This demo was released through the company's YouTube channel.
The video description states how it is prime time for Atlas to get a new skill set and become hands-on. Within the video, Atlas manipulates and navigates through its surroundings. The humanoid robot interacts with items and adjusts its course in order to go beyond its restrictions for sensing, athleticism, and locomotion.
The clip emphasizes the robot's remarkable dexterity and ability as it helps workers in a simulated construction site. The video captures Atlas jumping, running, throwing and grabbing things as the robot assists a worker. Atlas demonstrates various impressive capabilities, including ascending staircases, tossing planks, and carefully balancing a bag on top of it.
After accomplishing the tasks, Atlas also manages to effortlessly do a backflip. According to TechCrunch, Boston Dynamics notes how this ending move, a 540-degree multi-axis and inverted flip, gives asymmetry to the movement of the robot. This makes it a harder skill compared to the parkour that Atlas previously did.
TechCrunch reports how the humanoid robot's gripper has one stationary finger and another moving one. Boston Dynamic expresses that these grippers were meant to perform heavy-lifting activities.
How the Crowd Responds to Atlas
Atlas is a research platform of Boston Dynamics. It is currently unavailable to the market. Across many viral clips, Atlas has become a crowd-favorite and has effectively shown its remarkable capabilities.
Social media netizens were left intrigued by the clip and had inputted various comments. One of these comments mentioned how Atlas' advancement levels were amazing. The user notes memories of the past wherein such machines could barely walk and move across the floor, which is a stark comparison to how Atlas is right now. This user then congratulates the firm for this remarkable humanoid robot.
Yet another user expressed how hard it is to describe the beauty of seeing the robot smoothly move. The user then remarks how genuinely nice the work is.
A third user also mentioned how it looks quite weird but awesome to see the robot fluidly move.
Team lead Scott Kuindersma of Boston Dynamics mentioned to The Verge that they are not just thinking about the dynamic movement of the robot. Kuindersma shares how the team is starting to make Atlas work and see how the robot should see and navigate through environmental objects.
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