The best way to appreciate the latest video of Boston Dynamics\u2019 \u201cAtlas\u201d robot is with Survivor\u2019s 1982 hit \u201cEye of the Tiger\u201d blasting at the same time. The short, 29-second clip of the former shows the freestanding bipedal robot jog, hop over a fallen log, and then perform a running jump onto a platform, then another, and then, with both feet, land on a third platform. For good measure, a full two-thirds of the clip are devoted to a slow-motion capture of that last series of jumps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Atlas is here, and after a somewhat rocky start, the robot is as capable of parkour as a Sylvester Stallone circa the mid-1970s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bipedal robots are some of the trickiest machines to make. Before this jaunt, Atlas is perhaps most famous for the ease with which it can get knocked down<\/a>, even if it gets back up again. Most of the other animal-inspired robots made by Boston Dynamics are four-legged<\/a>, which allows for movement over rough terrain while more easily preserving balance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the past, the Department of Defense has explored using some quadrupedal Boston Dynamics robots for combat operations, like sending in the dog-sized spot<\/a> to scout rooms in advance of humans. While the loud noise<\/a> of these robots is reportedly<\/a> one reason the Pentagon didn\u2019t ultimately purchase the machines, could the human-like Atlas find a home in the military?<\/p>\n\n\n\n The parkour video makes a compelling case, but it\u2019s not as the gun-toting skull-faced Terminators of fiction. Bipedal machines are not the best design for navigating the natural world, but they are the ideal body type for maneuvering through spaces designed for humans. A robot that can walk through hallways, step over door frames, hop over small obstacles, and even bound its way over rubble could be a perfect tool for rescue work in rubble, or perhaps navigating a part of a ship that\u2019s too dangerous for humans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With the ability to maintain balance, and with an inability to feel pain, Atlas could become part of the emergency equipment of ships or bases, a machine that can tackle hazards while saving humans from additional risk. I would not expect to see something like Atlas geared toward a combat role … but rescue? That\u2019s a burden Atlas can shoulder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n