Boston Dynamics, a company renowned for its impressive and sometimes amusing robots, recently announced the retirement of its iconic Atlas robot – well, sort of.
The retirement isn’t quite the end of the line for this bipedal wonder, but it does signal a shift in design philosophy for Boston Dynamics.
Immediately after the video in which Atlas, which put a smile on everyone’s face, bids farewell to us, the company introduced its new robot and showed us with a short video of what kind of humanoid robot it will present to us in the future.
Boston Dynamics Atlas bids farawel
The original Atlas, powered by hydraulics, first appeared in 2013. This early version was leashed on the world through the DARPA Robotics Challenge, a competition designed to accelerate the development of robots capable of navigating complex disaster zones. Atlas’s clunky, cable-tethered form may seem primitive compared to its later iterations, but it laid the groundwork for the remarkable feats we’d see later.
Over the years, Atlas has transformed into a parkour-loving, backflipping machine. Videos showcasing Atlas’s athletic prowess have gone viral, capturing the public’s imagination and sparking conversations about the future of robotics. But beneath the impressive flips and obstacle course runs, there were countless missteps – and that’s where the retirement announcement gets interesting.
To commemorate Atlas’s farewell (of sorts), Boston Dynamics released a hilarious blooper reel. The video features the robot tripping, falling, and even leaking a little hydraulic fluid – a lighthearted reminder of the tireless work that goes into making those seemingly effortless robot moves.
Why is Boston Dynamics retiring Atlas?
So, why retire Atlas now? The answer lies in the blooper reel itself. While hydraulics have their advantages, they also come with limitations. The complexity of the hydraulic system makes Atlas bulky and restricts its movements in some ways.
New Atlas waves hi
This is where the new Atlas comes in. Boston Dynamics is developing a fully electric Atlas in collaboration with Hyundai. This new version promises to be lighter, more agile, and potentially more suited for real-world applications.
While details about the new Atlas are still under wraps, the retirement of the hydraulic version suggests a focus on practicality. The blooper reel, in a way, serves as a comedic acknowledgement of the limitations of the current design.
Looking ahead, it will be interesting to see how the new Atlas evolves. Will it become a fixture in factories or disaster zones?
We will learn it soon as Boston Dynamics’ robots will continue to entertain and amaze us, bloopers and all.
Featured image credit: Boston Dynamics
