A new video shows the world’s most advanced humanoid robot running merrily through fields and leaping over logs. It’s a remarkable feat of engineering, but don’t be too alarmed: there are still some significant limitations.
Run: Boston Dynamics has received plenty of attention for videos of eerily lifelike legged robots in action. The latest clip shows the company’s two-legged machine, Atlas, running and jumping with impressive speed. This is incredibly difficult for a two-legged machine to do on uneven ground. It requires a very sensitive sense of balance and lightning reflexes.
One step closer: The feat is progress toward enabling robots to go anywhere a person can. Boston Dynamics was founded by Marc Raibert, a roboticist who has done pioneering work on having robots balance themselves dynamically. Raibert previously ran a lab at CMU, and then one at MIT.
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