Boston Dynamics shows off 'terrifying' humanoid robot that can run and leap over obstacles

A new video published by robotics company Boston Dynamics shows off its robot’s impressive new ability to do parkour.

Boston Dynamics’ humanoid robot Atlas previously learned how to run, how to jump and how to open doors but the robot can now dexterously leap from step to step whilst jumping over obstacles.

The company, launched in 1992 as a spin off from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, develops robots which it hopes can be used in search and rescue missions as well as in industrial settings.

It has also conducted research into military use of robots, although the US army declined to use Boston Dynamics products because of concern over the volume of the robots.

"There was the challenge of seeing the potential possibility because of the limitations of the robot itself," a spokesman for the US Marines Warfighting Lab said. "They took it as it was: a loud robot that's going to give away their position."

Boston Dynamics Atlas robot
Boston Dynamics' robots can now do parkour Credit: Boston Dynamics

A second video released by the company shows its smaller, dog-like robot “Spot” being used on construction sites in Tokyo to automatically map the locations.

Many social media users have commented that they find the videos of Boston Dynamics’ robots to be unsettling.

“Absolutely terrifying,” wrote one YouTube user under a video of the Atlas robot doing parkour.

“The human race is over,” wrote another person.

The robotics company was acquired by Google’s parent company Alphabet in 2013 and was run by Android creator Andy Rubin. However, the business was sold to Japanese technology company SoftBank in 2017.

Softbank, an aggressive buyer of technology companies in the west, is believed to have spent £78m on a deal which also included the purchase of Schaft, a bipedal robot company, which Google bought in 2013.

In May, At a robotics conference in California, company’s founder Marc Raibert said that its was for large-scale production and could be sold to the public by the middle of 2019.

 

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