We've grown accustomed to seeing Boston Dynamics' impressive line-up of robots strutting about in periodic video updates, each more terrifying than the last. But, every once in a while, the company unleashes a clip so awesome you can't help but watch...
There are two typical ways to train a robot today: you can have it watch repeated demonstrations of what you want it to do or you can program its movements directly using motion-planning techniques. But a team of researchers from MIT's CSAIL lab have...
Boston Dynamics' upright-and-walking-on-two-legs Atlas robot is a slightly terrifying while simultaneously an amazing piece of technology. But during its initial demos the DARPA-funded automaton needed a clear and fairly even path to walk. Now thanks...
Researchers at the Institute for Human & Machine Cognition have programmed Boston Dynamics’ Atlas humanoid robot to walk over partial footholds thanks to a new balancing algorithm. Essentially this means that it can handle rougher terrain as it chases humans down to put them in human zoos a few years from now.
Seriously though, the improved balance lets the bipedal robot balance on edges that only make contact with part of its feet. The machine can also take quick steps over footholds that only make a single point of contact. This is a big step for the robot. Pun intended.
This could be great for sending the robot into disaster areas or just really rough terrain. On the other hand, if it keeps learning tricks like this there will be no escaping this robot for future humans.
[via Laughing Squid]
