Boston Dynamics: Humanoid robot Atlas moves more and more like a human being
Boston Dynamics is teaching its humanoid Atlas robot ever more dynamic movements. Cooperation with the AI company RAI is also helping with this.
Robot Atlas doing cartwheels.
(Image: Boston Dynamics)
The cooperation between the robotics company Boston Dynamics and the AI forge Robotics & AI Institute (RAI), which was only concluded in January, is beginning to bear fruit. Both companies had set themselves the goal of making the entire body movements of the humanoid robot Atlas 2.0 more dynamic. A video now shows the first results: Atlas moves in a human-like manner, crawls, performs a roll, does cartwheels and attempts a breakdance move.
Full-body dynamics
Boston Dynamics and RAI use reinforcement learning (– RL) to teach the humanoid Atlas new skills. The companies have the robot perform tasks in virtual simulations. If a task is successful, it is rewarded. The robot learns new movements, for example. However, the process is time-consuming and therefore quite slow. Companies are therefore working on how simulation-based learning can be better transferred to the real world. The main focus here is on dynamic walking and whole-body manipulation. The latter involves the interaction of all body parts to balance different forces in an overall body movement – for example when carrying heavier weights.
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The video shows the progress that has been made. The Atlas robot walks and runs more dynamically than other humanoid robots of its size. For example, it takes its arms with it when it runs and is similar to a human runner overall. The robot can now also crawl – even if it is not yet quite as smooth. On the other hand, a sideways floor roll, a handstand and doing a cartwheel work better. The robot also tries to perform a breakdance move as smoothly as possible.
In contrast to other robotics companies, Boston Dynamics and RAI do not focus solely on learning tasks for industry and use in households and do not use dynamic movements. Instead, both companies are concentrating on the overall body dynamics of the robot, for example, to make walking more stable and movements safer and more efficient.
Speculation that Boston Dynamics could develop such dynamically acting robots for military applications is rather unlikely as things stand: Boston Dynamics, together with other robotics companies, committed to not arming its robots in 2022.
(olb)