Boston Dynamics on Wednesday unveiled the latest version of its "Atlas" humanoid robot, featuring an upgrade from hydraulic actuation to fully electric, and designed for real-world applications.
The first Atlas robot debuted in 2013, originally developed for search and rescue operations and funded by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). That iteration was a hulking 6 feet, 2 inches tall, weighing 330 pounds, and although it could move independently, it had to be tethered to a power source.
More than a decade later, the hydraulic Atlas has been retired, and the fully electric Atlas is set to begin its journey in the real world with automaker Hyundai.
"In addition to investing in us, the Hyundai team is building the next generation of automotive manufacturing capabilities, and it will serve as a perfect testing ground for new Atlas applications," Boston Dynamics said in a blog post.
Boston Dynamics previously released its Spot and Stretch robots commercially. The company said its Atlas rollout will be similar to that of Stretch, with a "small group of innovative customers" testing Atlas over the next few years, beginning with Hyundai.
The new Atlas is stronger than the most recent iteration of the hydraulic Atlas, and has a broader range of motion. But it's still being improved, with engineers exploring "several new gripper variations" to meet diverse customer needs.
Boston Dynamics said commercial deployment is about more than just the robot, however, "requiring IT infrastructure, employee buy-in, connectivity, workflows, safety standards, and operational processes for the robots and the data they generate and rely on."
The company learned about the necessity of broader digital transformation with Spot, which has seen more than 1,500 deployments so far, perhaps most famously with police departments around the country.
Along with upgraded hardware, the new Atlas benefits from upgraded software, making use of recent advancements in AI and machine learning tools, including reinforcement learning and computer vision.
Boston Dynamics' new Orbit software provides a centralized platform for managing entire robot fleets, site maps and data. While it currently only supports Spot robots, Stretch and Atlas will soon be integrated, the company said.
Story via TMX