Boston Dynamics Atlas robot: a full history – The Verge

Boston Dynamics’ Tesla Bot rival Atlas will start building Hyundai cars in 2028

2026-01-05T16:50:45-05:00

Boston Dynamics unveiled the latest version of its humanoid Atlas robot Monday at CES in Las Vegas. The robot, with a glowing circle for a face, a fully electric, battery-powered body, and joints that can rotate 360 degrees, is so advanced that it will soon be working alongside human factory workers for parent company Hyundai, the companies claimed.

Hyundai said it plans on mass-producing Atlas as "production-ready humanoid robots" that will be put to work at the automaker's car plants, starting with the Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant in Savannah, Georgia. The company estimates it will produce 30,000 robots annually starting in 2028.

The co …

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Boston Dynamics’ new video shows that its humanoid robot doesn’t need a human

2024-10-30T11:45:15-04:00

The latest video shared by Boston Dynamics demonstrates the new Atlas robot’s autonomous navigation and handling capabilities. | Screenshot: YouTube

Boston Dynamics has shared another look at the latest version of its humanoid robot, Atlas. Earlier videos of the all-electric robot demonstrated its unique range of motions, but this time Atlas is shown using machine learning and its upgraded sensors to perform sorting tasks in a simulated factory environment.

The task of moving engine covers "between supplier containers and a mobile sequencing dolly" isn't especially exciting, but it demonstrates several of the new robot's capabilities working together. After being provided with only a "list of bin locations to move parts between," Atlas uses various sensors and machine learning models to …

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Make robots hairy

2024-04-18T10:15:47-04:00

A less creepy iteration. | Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos courtesy of Boston Dynamics and Getty Images

On Wednesday, Boston Dynamics announced the new version of its Atlas robot with a characteristically unsettling video. In it, a humanoid android lifts itself up from the floor by bending its legs backward and then swivels its fathomless void of a head a full 180 degrees like it's Linda Blair in The Exorcist. The footage is obviously creepy.

In a press release, the company said that it decided to make the new, fully electric Atlas robot move like an undead Cirque du Soleil performer (paraphrasing) because it can more efficiently complete tasks when it is not "constrained by a human range of motion." I am OKAY with this! Boston Dynamics is d …

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Boston Dynamics’ new Atlas robot is a swiveling, shape-shifting nightmare

2024-04-17T13:39:30-04:00

It's alive! A day after announcing it was retiring Atlas, its hydraulic robot, Boston Dynamics has introduced a new, all-electric version of its humanoid machine. The next-generation Atlas robot is designed to offer a far greater range of movement than its predecessor.

Boston Dynamics wanted the new version to show that Atlas can keep a humanoid form without limiting "how a bipedal robot can move." The new version has been redesigned with swiveling joints that the company claims make it "uniquely capable of tackling dull, dirty, and dangerous tasks."

"We designed the electric version of Atlas to be stronger, more dexterous, and more agile, …

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Boston Dynamics’ bipedal robot Atlas is now tossing tool bags around a (fake) construction site

2023-01-18T11:23:36-05:00

Is Boston Dynamics slowly preparing to put its bipedal robots to work?

In a glossy new video, the company has shown off its prototype Atlas robot tossing planks and tool bags around in a fake construction site. In a second, behind-the-scenes video, Boston Dynamics' team lead on Atlas, Scott Kuindersma, explained that the video is "meant to communicate an expansion of the research we're doing on Atlas." As ever, it's important to note that these videos are rigorously planned and structured, with falls and mistakes edited out. But, as Kuindersma notes, it's still a change of pace for Atlas.

"We're not just thinking about how to make the robo …

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Boston Dynamics shows how bipedal Atlas robot flips, vaults, and falls over in latest videos

2021-08-17T10:00:19-04:00

Boston Dynamics has published a pair of new videos showcasing its bipedal Atlas robot. The first is typical Boston Dynamics flash, with two Atlas units demonstrating an extremely impressive gymnastics routine. They flip, they vault, they nearly fall over but not quite - it's brilliant. The second video, though, offers an unusually transparent assessment of Atlas' capabilities, as the company's engineers explain what goes into creating these routines.

As Boston Dynamics has said before, Atlas is essentially a research project: a cutting-edge machine that helps the company's engineers work out better control and perception systems. "At a prac …

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Boston Dynamics robots take over the dance floor in latest video

2020-12-29T15:17:45-05:00

Boston Dynamics' Atlas and Spot robots can do a lot of things: sprinting, gymnastic routines, parkour, backflips, opening doors to let in an army of their friends, washing dishes, and (poorly) getting actual jobs. But the company's latest video adds another impressive trick to our future robotic overlords' repertoire: busting sick dance moves.

The video sees Boston Dynamics' entire lineup of robots - the humanoid Atlas, the dog-shaped Spot, and the box-juggling Handle - all come together in a bopping, coordinated dance routine set to The Contours' "Do You Love Me."

It's not the first time Boston Dynamics has shown off its robots' dancing s …

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Boston Dynamics’ Atlas can now do an impressive gymnastics routine

2019-09-24T10:00:00-04:00

Alongside the news that Boston Dynamics is going to let its robot dog, Spot, out of its laboratory for the first time, the company has released a new video of Atlas, its spectacular bipedal robot that's previously been seen doing everything from parkour to backflips. In this latest video, Atlas does a small gymnastics routine, consisting of a number of somersaults, a short handstand, a 360-degree spinning jump, and even a balletic split leap.

What's most impressive is seeing Atlas tie all these moves together into one pretty cohesive routine. In the video's description, Boston Dynamics says that it's using a "model predictive controller" t …

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Boston Dynamics’ robots are preparing to leave the lab — is the world ready?

2019-07-17T10:42:52-04:00

Not many robotics companies can boast legions of fans online, but not many robotics companies make robots quite like Boston Dynamics.

Each time the firm shares new footage of its machines, they cause a sensation. Whether it's a pack of robot dogs towing a truck or a human-like bot leaping nimbly up a set of boxes, Boston Dynamics' bots are uniquely thrilling.

They're also something of a Rorschach test for our feelings about the future, with viewers either basking in the high-tech splendor or bemoaning the coming robo-apocalypse. And when a parody video circulated last month showing a CGI "Bosstown Dynamics" robot turning on its creators, …

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Boston Dynamics will definitely win the first Robot Ninja Warrior

2018-10-11T14:48:04-04:00

Everyone's favorite future robot overlords are back with a new trick: parkour. SoftBank-owned Boston Dynamics released a short video today that shows its bipedal humanoid Atlas robot breezing over a log before showing some serious ups as it hops to the top of a set of staggered boxes.

It's another feather in the cap of the small Massachusetts outfit, which has regularly teased new robots with new capabilities for years now despite having been abandoned by Google. While it's still not totally clear whether Boston Dynamics will find paying customers for these robots, just look at the list of Things Boston Dynamics' Robots Can Do:

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