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A Boston Dynamics just announced a new era for its humanoid robot Atlas, with the transition from a model with hydraulic controls to a fully electric version. This move represents a key step in the company's journey towards the successful commercialization of its robotic solutions. 4f5p6k
What changes in the new electric Atlas 1a3r5o
“The next generation of the program Atlas leverages decades of research and reinforces our commitment to delivering the most capable and useful mobile robots, solving the toughest challenges in industry today: with the SpotWith the Stretch and now with the Atlas", the company said in a blog post. O Spot is a quadrupedal robot used in facility inspection and other tasks, while the Stretch It was designed to unload trucks.
The journey with humanoid robots began in 2009 when Boston Dynamics cut one of its quadrupedal robots powered by compressed air in half. Until 2016, the company based in Waltham, in Massachusetts, demonstrated that his robot could walk, open a door, and maintain balance while pushed by a person with a hockey stick, all without a safety cable.
Robotics continued to improve the Atlas, giving it a smaller form factor and more sensors, training your increasingly impressive feats, from parkour and dancing to crossing a simulated construction site manipulating tools.
While the old Atlas it was a sensation in YouTube, he still had limitations on range of motion, size, and energy consumption. A Boston Dynamics recognized that its legged robots were designed to operate in unstructured environments, and that the Atlas The initial project was more of a research and development project than a commercial product.
In the meantime, the company itself changed owners: from Google in 2013 for the Softbank in 2017 and more recently for the Stretch meeting industrial needs. To continue the research, the Hyundai founded the Boston Dynamics AI Institute in 2022.
Second Robert PlayerCEO of Boston Dynamics, the new electric version of the Atlas incorporates valuable lessons learned during the commercialization of robots Spot and Stretch, such as improving control policies, performance and minimizing the complexity of ts.
The diversity of manipulation tasks we need to do with this robot [Atlas] is enormous, and AI is essential to enable this generality.
Robert Playter, CEO of Boston Dynamics
Safety and autonomy were priorities during the development of the new robot from Boston Dynamics. The company recognized early on that the robot will operate in spaces shared with people, requiring advanced 3D vision systems and functional safety. A ASTM International is developing safety standards for legged robots.
Although the Spot and Atlas are frequently tele-operated, Player states that this is a necessary step towards higher levels of autonomy. “Making robots knowledgeable about different types of objects and how to grasp them is essential“He explained.
The electric version of the Atlas will be stronger and have a greater range of motion than any previous generation. For example, the previous hydraulic model could already lift and handle heavy and irregular objects, and these existing abilities continue to be improved. Furthermore, the company explores claw variations to meet different handling needs in customer environments.
Fleet management software orbit, which initially applies to internal deployments of the Spot, you can also help supervise the Stretch and Atlas.
"Everything we understand, since the launch of Spot from a prototype to a reliable product deployed in fleets, is entering the new Atlas", said Player. "We are confident that AI and orbit will help improve behaviors. "
Robotic market challenges 5d5d52
In the last two years, the number of (Figure 01 da AI figures. Just in the last two weeks, Rainbow Robotics, Sanctuary AI e Mentee Robotics made announcements.
Investment has also flowed into humanoid companies, with 1X Technologies raising US$100 million in January, the AI figures raising US$675 million in February and Accenture investing in Sanctuary AI in March.
Humanoid robots have advanced in parallel with generative AI, and Player said he welcomes competition.
"There were three seminal events: Boston Dynamics was acquired by $1 billion, interest in the robot Tesla has validated what we do for a long time and the emergence of new AI promises the generalization of tasks", he said. “They inspired many new players, but having new technology is not everything you need to have a commercial product. You need to focus on a use case, build a reliable machine and manufacture it in a way to build a business. "
Player added that practical design and proper implementation of AI will help differentiate robots rather than focusing on making them more human-like.
When will we see the new robot in action 4km51
A Boston Dynamics will begin testing the Atlas Electric with the parent company Hyundai and some selected partners next year.
"We are starting in your factory", said Player. "In addition to the target application of a lot of moving parts — a special type of logistics in automobile production — I think this will evolve as the dexterity of robots improves over time. We will see real robots in factories starting next year. We want a diversity of tasks".
However, a capable robot is only one part of the successful trading solution. Scaled deployments of autonomous mobile robots are part of a broader digital transformation ecosystem, requiring IT infrastructure, employee buy-in, connectivity, workflows, security standards, and operational processes.
To facilitate this radical operational transition, the company not only offers cutting-edge hardware, but has also made significant advancements in software in recent years. Its robots are equipped with artificial intelligence and machine learning tools, such as reinforcement learning and computer vision, to efficiently operate and adapt to complex real-world situations.
As the Boston Dynamics put the new Atlas in production in the next few years, the journey to bring humanoid robotic automation into the real world is truly beginning. The era of mobile, versatile robots in factories and other work environments may finally be within our reach.
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Source: Boston Dynamics, TechCrunch, The Robot Report
reviewed by Glaucon Vital in 17 / 4 / 24.
