Boston Dynamics’ Atlas: The Backflipping Santa
Boston Dynamics has gifted us an early holiday treat this year with their humanoid robot, Atlas, donning a Santa suit and performing a backflip. This impressive feat is showcased around 13 minutes into their new video, adding yet another trick to Atlas’s growing repertoire. But here’s an interesting tidbit: for robots, performing a backflip isn’t necessarily more complex than simply walking. This is because roboticists typically prioritize mastering practical tasks, such as locomotion, before delving into acrobatics.
- Atlas’s resilience is noteworthy, managing to keep its Santa hat on during the flip.
- The electric version of Atlas builds on the achievements of its hydraulic predecessor, which first demonstrated the backflip in 2017.
- Unitree’s humanoid robot has recently been showcasing its own gymnastic prowess too.
“Seeing a robot execute such feats with precision emphasizes the advancements in robotics, marking the progress from basic movement to complex maneuvers.”
{Expert in Robotics}
