Boston Dynamics Atlas robot can now parkour better than most humans

Robot Atlas from Boston Dynamics has a new trick: he can parkour on a gymnastics track. In addition, he is able to propel himself at speed on a complex circuit with obstacles of different heights, and he can run on a thin beam and do somersaults.

As if it weren’t enough that Boston Dynamics’ most famous robot Atlas can dance, can do somersaults and outside can run in circles, the robot has a new trick. He can now move at pace on a complicated circuit with slanted and high obstacles, he can jump and run over a beam and also do a somersault off a platform.

And he can do all this together with another Atlas robot. It is the first time that Atlas has been able to bridge a complex circuit of obstacles without errors, say the developers of the robot in a blog post. The engineers spent months working on the routine, which they say is still not perfect. One of the two robots had to pump his arm like a baseball player at the end of the routine. The robot didn’t do that, so it’s back to the drawing board for the engineers.

If you’re wondering: why should a robot be able to parkour if an average person can’t even sit upright in an office chair for a whole day, the team at Boston Dynamics has an answer to that: ultimately it’s important that Atlas learns to react to his environment with the same ease as an adult human being. Atlas should be able to go anywhere and do anything in the future. Parkour is the perfect sandbox for this, explains team leader Scott Kuindersma.

Although the routine was devised by Atlas’ engineers, they do not have to program and calculate the exact movements in advance for the routine. Atlas itself can react to a number of obstacles, based on perception. The robot then makes a number of critical adjustments on the spot to stay balanced and maintain the correct posture.

Curious how Atlas works? Boston Dynamics posted a behind-the-scenes look along with the above video: