Robotic gymnastics

Boston Dynamics, the company known for its robotic dogs, now has a humanoid robot capable of doing gymnastics.

Description
Boston Dynamics, the company known for its robotic dogs, now has a humanoid robot capable of doing gymnastics.

The robotics company previously has shown how its robot dogs can go downstairs and open doors. Some police departments have begun using the robot dogs, typically called Spot, to help patrol. And Atlas, which the company dubbed “the world’s most dynamic humanoid,” showed in an earlier video how the robot can jog and jump over a log.

In a new video, Atlas now can do parkour – a sport of moving through obstacles – jumping and running along uneven platforms. Then, two humanoid robots do synchronized movements including turning, spinning and two flips, mirroring each other moves.

Relevance
Having the robots perform parkour sequences including running along a balance beam, jumping and doing flips helps in the development of a robot capable of multiple tasks, “a go-anywhere, do-anything robot of the future,” said Scott Kuindersma, leader of Boston Dynamics’ Atlas team, in a blog post accompanying the new videos.
By interacting with online robot content, society as a whole gets accustomed to the idea of robots entering society. Could that help improve still some fear and unfamiliarity of workers at the factories?