Legendary Boston Dynamics Atlas Robot Retires In Hilarious Bloopers Video
Over the years, we've seen a bunch of seriously impressive robotics demonstrations from Boston Dynamics, with several videos starring the firm's bipedal hydraulic Atlas robot. From running through a parkour course like a seasoned pro to romping around a construction site like a hard hat boss, Atlas is a marvel in robotic engineering. Now nearly a decade later, Boston Dynamics is bidding farewell to Atlas in hydraulic form. And like any good retirement party, there's some good-natured ribbing involved in the send off.
While we've seen plenty of demos of Atlas performing incredible feats, like the time it went full American Ninja or when it performed a hardcore gymnastics routine, we haven't seen much in the way of robotic fails. Like any good athlete or project, though, there are bumps and bruises along the way to greatness. Boston Dynamics rounded up a bunch of them in its farewell video, which you can watch below.
"For almost a decade, Atlas has sparked our imagination, inspired the next generations of roboticists, and leapt over technical barriers in the field. Now it’s time for our hydraulic Atlas robot to kick back and relax," Boston Dynamics states in the video's description. "Take a look back at everything we've accomplished with the Atlas platform to date."
As someone who's torn both of his ACLs, some of the highlights hit close to home. More than once in the three-and-a-half-minute video, Atlas blows out his knee and/or ankle. In one of those instances, we can see hydraulic fluid spewing from where its foot was attached before it snapped off from a missed landing on a platform jump.
Other fails include mistiming an elevator entrance, slipping and falling in front of a glass door, falling down stairs and face-planting into a guard rail, and losing footing on a hill only to go hilariously tumbling down and rolling through the hillside several times before finally coming to a stop.
While the original Atlas we've all come to know and admire is riding off into the sunset, Boston Dynamics announced an all-electric replacement that it says "will be stronger, with a broader range of motion."
"Our last generation hydraulic Atlas (HD Atlas) could already lift and maneuver a wide variety of heavy, irregular objects; we are continuing to build on those existing capabilities and are exploring several new gripper variations to meet a diverse set of expected manipulation needs in customer environments," Boston Dynamics explains in a blog post.
It's certainly sleeker-looking at first glance, and it sure does loom nimble, too. We can hardly wait to see if it's equally as athletic.
