A new video that the company put out just a day ago shows Atlas performing more complex movements. It is now able to jump on boxes of different height, jump between those boxes, turn 180 degrees in the air, and, last but not least, land a backflip! (Verge)
First, I think we should take a moment to appreciate the development of the robot. Look how far Atlas's movements have improved and become more complex in just the past year. Just a year! The field of robotics is moving quickly! What is the significance of Atlas's refined mobility? There are a vast amount things that this robot could be used because of its improved movement. The most obvious uses for a robot with these kinds of motor skills would be a situation that is too dangerous for a human. For example, fire rescues, bomb situations, and space missions are some circumstances where a humanoid robot could facilitate the operation and keep humans safe.
"Why does it have to be a humanoid robot to complete these tasks," you might ask. I don't think the robot necessarily has to be humanoid to complete these tasks, but I could see how having a human-like appearance could be more comforting to humans when they need to trust the robot. On the other hand, A Wired article argues against making humanoid robots. The article says that we should move away from creating separate human-like robots and instead focus on improving current objects to automate specific tasks. What do you think?
After reading a few of the articles on Atlas's great feat, there was one reoccurring theme that I noticed. At the end of most of the articles, there were either multiple videos of robots failing in recent robotics contests or a calming sentence or two to reassure the reader not to worry about the "robot revolution." Why were these sections added to almost every article? It might have something to do with the human fear of superior robots taking over and the danger they bring with them. Maybe it has something to do with the thought of these robots taking our jobs (Telegraph). Perhaps it's both! An article from Independent had various twitter user responses to the new Atlas video. Some of the tweets seem nervous or scared about the video and others had mixed feelings. Although these are just a few opinions on the matter, it
While Atlas's motor skills don't apply to the Artificial Intelligence subjects of linguistics and chat-bots that we have been talking about in class, it will be talked about later in the course. The Lego robots that we will be programming towards the end of the term won't seem like much compared to Atlas. Nonetheless, they both fall into the category of Autonomous robots, which we will be learning about during week 6.
Other things that I found while researching that are neat:
- Boston Dynamics' YouTube page
- More about Atlas
- Boston Dynamics' other robots
- DARPA Robotics Challenge - Robot Fails
