Skip to main content

Watch Boston Dynamics’ Atlas robot happily working all by itself

Boston Dynamics has shared a new video showing how its updated Atlas robot is able to competently handle workplace tasks using AI and machine learning tools that include reinforcement learning and computer vision.

Atlas Goes Hands On

The footage shows Atlas operating autonomously, moving engine covers between containers in a relatively fast and efficient manner.

Recommended Videos

“Atlas uses a machine learning (ML) vision model to detect and localize the environment fixtures and individual bins,” Boston Dynamics said in notes accompanying the video. “The robot uses a specialized grasping policy and continuously estimates the state of manipulated objects to achieve the task.”

The Hyundai-owned company emphasizes that there are no prescribed or teleoperated movements, and that all of the motions are generated autonomously online.

The video also shows how the bipedal humanoid robot is able to recover from so-called “action failures” — for example, when a task fails at the first attempt or if it trips on something — by using a combination of vision, force, and sensors.

The roboticist team at the Massachusetts-based company retired the hydraulic-powered Atlas in April and immediately replaced it with this fully electric version that it said is stronger, more dexterous, and more agile, and “able to move in ways that exceed human capabilities.”

Boston Dynamics has said that it wants to commercialize the robot in a similar way to how it’s deployed its dog-like Spot robot in industrial settings.

“This journey will start with Hyundai,” Boston Dynamics said in the spring. “In addition to investing in us, the Hyundai team is building the next generation of automotive manufacturing capabilities, and it will serve as a perfect testing ground for new Atlas applications. In the months and years ahead, we’re excited to show what the world’s most dynamic humanoid robot can really do — in the lab, in the factory, and in our lives.”

While human workers may watch Atlas with a degree of nervousness, companies deploying advanced robotic technology often claim that it’ll be used alongside human workers, or for mundane tasks so that human employees can focus on more meaningful duties. Only time will tell if those claims hold true.

Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
AMD’s Ryzen 7 9800X3D is official, and it shakes things up in a big way
Pads on the AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D.

We all knew it was coming. A string of rumors over the past several months has pointed to AMD releasing the Ryzen 7 9800X3D on November 7, but the company itself just confirmed the new CPU. It's looking for a spot among the best processors, packing 3D V-Cache on top of an eight-core Zen 5 CPU in order to improve gaming performance.

True to rumors we've seen this week, AMD is pricing the CPU at $479, which is nearly $30 more expensive than the Ryzen 7 7800X3D. AMD claims that the new chip provides an average gaming increase of 8% over the last-gen CPU, and 20% faster gaming performance compared to Intel's recent Core Ultra 9 285K. In addition, AMD says that minimum frame rates are up, with the Ryzen 7 9800X3D improving 1% lows in The Last of Us Part One by 31%.

Read more
This underrated Google Chrome feature turned me into a power user
google chrome automatic tab groups featured

I don't like when my web browser pesters me. It's one of the many reasons I use Google Chrome over Microsoft Edge, but for once, I'm actually thankful to catch a stray pop-up in Chrome.

You may have seen a similar pop-up in Chrome, assuming you consider it the best browser, like I still do. When your tab count gets unmanageable, Chrome will offer to group your tabs together. I dismissed this notification probably a dozen times, but I decided to finally give it a shot one day. And it completely changed how I use Chrome.
The time saver

Read more
The best Intel processors for 2024
Intel Core i5-13600K installed in a motherboard.

When considering what the best processor is for your PC, Intel offers stiff competition in productivity and gaming, despite facing downAMD's Ryzen 7000 and Ryzen 9000 CPUs. Intel's parts just need a bit more power to do it.

Although the Core Ultra 9 285K is the latest flagship CPU from Intel, it only just scrapes onto this list. There are lot of CPUs we'd recommend instead, and they all feature here as part of the best Intel CPUs you can buy in 2024.

Read more