Google-owned company Boston Dynamics is well known for creating robot cheetahs and robot dogs and now it’s started taking humanoid robots out for a spin. In a video recently posted on YouTube, Boston Dynamics founder Marc Raibert gave a video demonstration of his company’s Atlas humanoid robot walking over rough terrain in the woods.
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Previously, Boston Dynamics had limited trials of its humanoid robot to indoor settings where it could be tested in a controlled environment. Boston Dynamics now feels confident enough with their creation that they’re willing to let it take a walk in the wild, although it’s attached to a power cable that prevents it from running off completely free.
“Out in the world is just a totally different challenge than inside the lab,” Raibert explains in his presentation. “You can’t predict what it’s going to be like… We’re making pretty good progress in making sure it has mobility that’s sort of within shooting range of yours. I’m not saying it can do everything you can do, but you can imagine if we keep pushing, we’ll get there.”
Boston Dynamics has made some of the most impressive robots we’ve seen in recent years. Its creations include the Cheetah, a four-legged robot whose speed tops out at 28.3 miles per hour, which just happens to be a little faster than Olympic sprinter Usain Bolt runs on his best day; and BigDog, hulking four-legged robo-beast is designed to go over rough terrains and maintain its balance even when shoved forcefully.
Check out the full video of Boston Dynamics testing out Atlas in the woods below.
