Author | Ling Min, Nuka-Cola
Another milestone for humanoid robots!
Boston Dynamics' Atlas humanoid robot enters a new era of electrification
Boston Dynamics always has something to surprise. The day after announcing the retirement of the hydraulic robot Atlas, Boston Dynamics unveiled a new all-electric version of the humanoid robot.
Please watch the video in its original article
A video released shows the Atlas firmly in a plank position on the mat, and the only sound it makes is the whirring of motors. Although the operation is still quite noisy, today's electric robots are significantly quieter than their previous hydraulic versions. As the camera zooms in, the robot begins to bend its legs from its knees. At first, the posture is natural, but later on, it begins to appear in an anti-joint state, and the robot also changes from prone to supine - the whole process is achieved by the clever rotation of the legs.
Atlas then stands up, with his back to the camera. It then rotates its head 180 degrees, and then its torso rotates with it. That's when the camera makes a clear view of its head for the first time – a ring strip of light that outlines the perfect edge of the screen. As Atlas walks out of the frame, its torso once again rotates 180 degrees with its head.
Robert Playter, CEO of Boston Dynamics, said in a recent interview, "When it's really ready for mass production and delivery, we'll probably reconsider the name." But it would be better to keep the name for now. ”
The executive's statement also hinted that the new Atlas project is still in its early stages. It is understood that Boston Dynamics' current timeline is that the electric version of the Atlas will be pilot-produced at a modern manufacturing plant early next year and will be fully operational in a few years.
Playter explains, "Starting next year, we'll be conducting field trials with Hyundai. We have already deployed Hyundai's equipment in the field and have been working on it for some time. To be successful, cool technology alone isn't enough – we also have to really understand the use case, while matching the capacity to keep the price of the robot within an acceptable range. ”
What are the highlights of the new Atlas robot?
Slim new mechanical skeleton
In the new version of the Atlas robot, there is little to no trace of the previous version. Gone are the top-heavy torsos, bowed legs, and plate-armor-thick shells, replaced by a slender new mechanical skeleton without any exposed cables.
For decades, Boston Dynamics faced fearful accusations and complaints from the masses, so they chose a design that was friendlier and gentler than the original Atlas and other modern robots, such as Figure 01 and Tesla Optimus. The design aesthetic of the new robot is closer to Agility's Digit and Apptronik's Apollo. The robot's head is like a traffic light, and the overall look is softer and more cartoonish.
Flexible rotatable
The most striking thing about this trailer for the "new Atlas robot" is undoubtedly the robot's movements.
"We built a customized, high-power, and very flexible actuator in most joint locations with a huge range of motion. It's the equivalent of condensing the power of top athletes into a small device, and we've already used this design in robots. ”
For decades, Boston Dynamics has been a good player in the "revitalization" campaign. The newly added standard will not only allow the robot to dance, but the same movements will also be used in industrial settings. So it's really hard to discern which ones are the actual features of the company's design, and which ones are just showing off the technology and attracting attention.
For example, starting in the prone position and pulling up the whole body with a counter-joint movement – this is both functional and practical. Boston Dynamics also shows in its farewell video for the hydraulic version of the Atlas that falling is part of the robot's design, and standing up is also part of the design. In fact, most of today's industrial robots require human intervention in the event of a malfunction. On the other hand, robots can easily dust off their bodies and get back to work, which is a huge win for productivity.
Head and hand design
The hand design in the latest trailer is not entirely new, as it was already present in the previous hydraulic version. But this release also highlights Boston Dynamics' idea that it doesn't intend to be based solely on the human posture. The hand design of the new robot is simple – three fingers are attached directly to the end effector instead of four.
"The design of the hand is very complex. When attempting to manipulate real-world objects with actuators, they must be extremely reliable and robust. So we decided to reduce the number of fingers in order to control the complexity of the hand design. We're constantly exploring iterations to give the Atlas robot a smooth grip, adapt to a variety of shapes, and a wealth of on-board sensing capabilities that allow it to detect attributes while touching objects. ”
Inside, the most controversial aspect of the design is probably its head. The huge circular display with a circle of light strips gives people the sense of a vanity mirror.
"It's a design element that we really struggled with for a long time. While other vendors tend to emphasize the humanoid, we wanted the Atlas to be different, to be more friendly and open. It has a display and sensors. The circular design is really to make people look more comfortable, which will be very important for the interaction between humans and machines in the future. ”
How difficult is it to be a robot company that has changed hands three times in ten years?
Boston Dynamics was founded in 1992 by Marc Raibet, an associate professor at Carnegie Mellon University, who founded the Leg Lab (CMU Leg) at Carnegie Mellon University.
In the early days, Boston Dynamics was designed to provide machinery for the U.S. military, and the most well-known quadruped robots (or "robot dogs") were actually products for the military. But all along, Boston Dynamics didn't have a real home. In 1992, Boston Dynamics spun off from MIT and remained independent, and in 2014, Boston Dynamics was spun off from MIT and acquired by Google for $3 billion. In 2017, Google sold it to SoftBank Group. When Boston Dynamics was acquired by Hyundai Motor Company for $921 million in December 2020, it was valued at just $1.1 billion, a 66% reduction in valuation.
In the past ten years, it has changed hands three times, and behind the life experience of being resold back and forth is the epitome of the difficulty of making profits in operating a robot company.
Over the past few years, several robotics companies have gone out of business. For example, after running out of money to support its hardware and software business, Anki, a startup that had raised $200 million to build robots for cute homes, collapsed in 2019 and subsequently sold its assets to Digital Dream Labs, an edtech startup.
Mayfield Robotics, the manufacturer of the Kuri home robot, also discontinued production in 2018. Rethink Robotics, the maker of Baxter and Sawyer's famous robots, also closed its doors in 2018, and its assets were later acquired by the German automation company HAHN Group.
In the decade since the hydraulic version of the Atlas was created, the robotics market landscape has changed dramatically. Today's electric version of the Atlas is facing an onslaught from similar humanoid machines from manufacturers such as Figure, Apptronik, Tesla, and 1X.
"For us, the interest in bots is on the rise, and it's driven by three main factors. The first was Hyundai's $3 billion acquisition of Boston Dynamics, which made many people suddenly realize that "it turned out to be profitable." Tesla has also expressed interest in robot manufacturing, which once again validates our long-term technological exploration. In addition, AI technology, a universal tool at the processing level, is becoming more sophisticated, making more tasks feasible. We've been patiently waiting for the day to come, and we're looking forward to our research to see what manipulation problems we can solve with the power of AI and make breakthroughs in the next generation of models. ”
Playter also mentioned that although Boston Dynamics is a far lead in humanoid robots, the new robot will not be assembled for the first time until around Christmas 2023. Until then, they had been grappling with a variety of complex simulation problems.
Original link: Atlas humanoid robot swipes the screen!"Niu Hulu Boston Dynamics" finally returned after changing hands three times, netizens: Terrifyingly strong_AI& large model_Ling Min_InfoQ Selected articles