Atlas – Google’s humanoid robot takes a walk

The towering humanoid robot from Google i.e., Atlas has shown off his fine bushwalking skills by taking a walk in the woods. Atlas has been developed by Boston Dynamics and is 1.88 meter tall and weighs about 156 kilograms. Google acquired Boston Dynamics in 2013 and since has been working on atlas’s untethered versions. This experimental robot is a bipedal rescue machine having two arms for handling tools to aid humans. The original purpose of atlas was to be able to walk over uneven and rugged terrains. The experimentation started indoors in a lab where videos show that it can walk over blocks and now it is being tested outdoors.

Image Source: i.dailymail.co.uk

Marc Raibert, founder of Boston Dynamics presented a video at MIT’s Fab 11 conference which showed Atlas walking successfully through woods. While there the Atlas’s power tether was being held by the handlers, Boston Dynamics aims at developing an upgraded version that won’t require tether. Raibert added “We’re making pretty good progress so it has mobility that’s sort of within shooting range of yours,”. Currently Boston Dynamics is working on 3D printed parts including valves, lattice and shell structures for hydraulic fluid in an effort to make the legs of the robot lighter and stronger. Raibert said that the goal is building robots that match human functionality. The project is sponsored by DARPA (defense Advanced research projects Agency). Atlas received an upgrade in this year including improved actuators for getting up after falls, repositioned arms and lighter materials.

The robot’s wrists are rotatable which means it can turn doorknobs without using whole arm. A variable pressure pump is another major improvement in this version of Atlas as it helps with energy conservation and gives us a quieter robot. Some robot platforms in the recent DARPA Robotics Challenge used Atlas as the basis to build up on. The aim of the challenge was to get a humanoid robot that could aid in disaster struck scenarios. The team from KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology) won the completion.