Google's Boston Dynamics Creates Humanlike Robot That Can Work in the Woods [Watch]
Google-owned firm Boston Dynamics has built a humanoid robot named Atlas that is capable of walking, running and standing in rough terrrains.
The six-foot-two-inch robot weighs in at 330 pounds and was taken outside to work in the woods, according to Daily Mail. Boston Dynamics took a video of Atlas in the woods. In the video, Atlas is shown struggling to stay upright, but still managing to walk through a path in the forest without falling.
Atlas was designed to thrive in this type of environment, Boston Dynamics says.
"Atlas can walk bipedally leaving the upper limbs free to lift, carry, and manipulate the environment," the company says.
"In extremely challenging terrain, Atlas is strong and coordinated enough to climb using hands and feet, to pick its way through congested spaces."
Boston Dynamics founder Marc Raibert discussed the Atlas robot project and showed footage of the robot in action at the Fab Lab Conference and Symposium in Cambridge, Massachusetts on Aug. 3.
Other companies have used the Atlas robot as a base and added their own software. Boston Dynamics stated their own software has taken major steps forward.
"We've been working on humanoid robots, derived from these models," Raibert said.
Boston Dynamics has been studying the way humans and animals move and trying to recreate it in their robots. They even want to make robot movement better than that of humans and animals.
Boston Dynamics wants their robots to be focused on moving quickly and avoiding falls. According to Venture Beat, Boston Dynamics has experimented with four-legged robots, but two-legged robots have a higher center of gravity and are harder to balance.
Raibert said that testing the robot in the forest went well. He wants to get Atlas out in the real world and put him into unpredictable environments to test his balance and quickness.
The Atlas robot is equipped with a 3.7-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack that provides about one hour of mixed operation, including walking, standing, use of tools and more.
Watch the Atlas robot in action below:
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