One of the world’s most advanced humanoid robots has been indulging in leisure activities to the detriment of its productivity. Boston Dynamics’ Atlas is renowned for its humanoid appearance, impressive mobility, and remarkable capabilities in navigating challenging terrain. These exceptional robotic systems demand meticulous oversight, yet they’re also primarily engaging experimental prototypes.
Six months on from the groundbreaking launch of the renowned robotics laboratory, the team is showcasing even more astounding innovations that have emerged from their cutting-edge work. In a groundbreaking innovation, a cutting-edge video showcases Atlas deftly selecting automotive parts from one inventory cabinet and seamlessly transferring them to another, a task typically handled by factory staff.
Aside from its electric powertrain, the all-new Atlas boasts a unique automatic transmission system that sets it apart from other vehicles in its class. Its head, higher physique, pelvis, and legs are capable of swiveling independently. Its head may spin around to face the opposite direction of its legs and torso, with the rest of its body twisting to follow suit later.
The newly released demo showcases a fundamental transformation for Atlas. Boston Dynamics’ latest video showcases a remarkable shift: whereas the company previously controlled the robotic’s most impressive movements, the new footage features an entirely autonomous Atlas in action.
“In this robotic system, autonomous online motion generation is enabled without any pre-programmed or remote-controlled actions.”
Why launch this video now? Humanoid robots are suddenly gaining momentum. What potential breakthroughs await us in the realm of artificial general intelligence? Boston Dynamics dominated the field for a long time, yet it took its sweet time bringing Atlas to market for industrial applications. The technology has not incorporated substantial amounts of artificial intelligence into its framework. It appears to be a matter of fact.
Last month, Hyundai’s laboratory collaborated with Toyota Research Institute (TRI) to integrate synthetic intelligence, TRI’s area of expertise, into its Atlas platform. The partnership aims to transform Atlas, alongside rigorous analysis, into a versatile humanoid robot capable of performing various tasks.
It’s an intriguing growth. Atlas is renowned globally for its exceptional performance in pure robotics applications. TRI is developing massive habits of fashion, akin to monumental language styles for robotic movement and control. The idea posits that as AI models are trained on increasingly vast amounts of real-world data, they may eventually develop the capacity to think and respond in a manner akin to a fully autonomous robotic intelligence, requiring minimal explicit programming to adapt to novel situations.
Google DeepMind has collaborated on a vision-language-action model called RT-X, teaming up with 33 research labs to create a massive new AI training dataset for robotics. Recently, a TR35-listed MIT venture, backed by the same funding that spawned ChatGPT, launched its inaugural robot-focused platform.
“Our vision is to develop a universally accessible robotic AI platform that requires no training whatsoever, allowing users to seamlessly integrate it into their robots.” “While we’re still in the early stages, we’ll continue to push forward and leverage the scaling effect to drive a breakthrough in robotic policies, just as we saw with large language models.”
Boston Dynamics isn’t alone in its innovative pursuits. Though tardy, it arrives at the social event. Companies founded in recent years, including numerous startups, unite under a common objective. The following companies embody innovative approaches: Tesla, Determined, and 1X, among others.
Within Boston Dynamics, Scott Kuindersma highlighted that this development could be “one of the most exhilarating aspects” in the field’s history. At the same time, he recognized that the industry was witnessing significant excitement and enthusiasm, yet still faced a substantial amount of work left to be accomplished. Obstacles arise from aggregating adequate accurate data and fine-tuning the most effective methods for programming robotic algorithms.
That doesn’t rule out the possibility of additional Boston Dynamics films being released soon. Russ Tedrake of TRI emphasized the importance of fostering enthusiasm for forthcoming results among individuals, while also instilling confidence through tangible evidence.
AI-Atlas is simply getting began.
