The newest iteration of Boston Dynamics’ Atlas humanoid robot is already disconcertingly nimble, with its ability to run, perform backflips, and toss around heavy objects. So maybe there’s some comfort to be had in knowing that, if nothing else, it might take a bit before the bipedal bot surpasses human breakdancing capabilities. At least that’s what it seems like after seeing Atlas’ new moves.
In a one-minute video posted to YouTube on March 19, the slimmed-down robot can be seen walking and running easily enough, but it’s a different story once it gets down on all fours. It can now crawl like a frog on its nub-hands and knee joints (although its overall movement remains somewhat stiff and awkward). Its “helicopter” leg sweeping and rolling techniques, however, could use some work.
According to Boston Dynamics, the new physicalities are “demonstrating policies developed using reinforcement learning with references from human motion capture and animation.” These come about a month after the company announced a partnership with the Robotics & AI Institute focused specifically on reinforcement learning projects to level up the humanoid robot. The collaboration is specifically aimed at translating mobility-based simulations to physical performance, improving whole body loco-manipulation, and advancing ways to utilize the Atlas robot’s entire body.
At the time, Boston Dynamics said it would “periodically release updates on this collaborative work, including publications and demonstrations with Atlas.” The “Walk, Run, Crawl, RL Fun” video appears to be the first entry in this series, which to be fair, is pretty impressive since it’s only been a few weeks since the collaboration began. It might not win any breakdancing competitions just yet, but it’s already definitely better than a lot of people can manage. It remains to be seen what pastime Atlas will learn next—maybe a waltz?
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