Boston Dynamics' Latest Humanoid Robot Can Jump and Backflip Better Than You

Boston Dynamics have released footage of the latest iteration of their humanoid robot, Atlas completing perfect backflips.
Jessica Miley

Boston Dynamics just released footage of its robot, Atlas, doing backflips! Billed as the “The World's Most Dynamic Humanoid’ by its makers, it seems Atlas is living up to its name. She short clip shows the robot jumping onto a series of increasingly higher boxes, jumping and spinning before its final trick of completing a perfect backflip. The robot even manages a sort of victory stance after completing the flip. Boston Dynamic describes Atlas saying: "Atlas' control system coordinates motions of the arms, torso, and legs to achieve whole-body mobile manipulation, greatly expanding its reach and workspace. Atlas' ability to balance while performing tasks allows it to work in a large volume while occupying only a small footprint.” While the backflipping probably won’t come in hand in a work situation it goes a long way to show just how agile and self-balancing this robot is. Atlas’ latest iteration stands 1.5 meters high and weighs 75 kg which makes its ability to backflip even more impressive.

Boston Dynamics sprung from MIT in the early 1990’s and for over two decades they have been leaders in the robotics industry. They were acquired by Google in 2013 and sold earlier this year to Japan's SoftBank Group for an undisclosed sum. Aside from gymnastic robots, the company is most famous for developing BigDog. BigDog is a four-legged robot designed to traverse rough terrain carrying a payload of up to 150kg. BigDog’s development was funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

Boston Dynamics' Latest Humanoid Robot Can Jump and Backflip Better Than You

 
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