Technology
The robot, called Atlas, is seen in a video using whole-body movements such as walking, crouching, and lifting.
Boston Dynamics and the Toyota Research Institute (TRI) announced a big step forward in robotics and artificial intelligence research this week.
In a joint video, their humanoid robot, Atlas, is seen using whole-body movements such as walking, crouching, and lifting to complete tasks that involve sorting and packing.
About 45 seconds into the video, a person with a hockey stick moves the box away from Atlas. Atlas immediately jumps into action, grabbing the box and moving it closer to continue picking up objects from inside. The person then closes one of the box’s lids with the hockey stick. Without skipping a beat, Atlas flips the lid open again and continues its tasks.
Unlike previous humanoid robots, which typically separate walking and balancing from arm manipulation, Atlas operates with a Large Behavior Model (LBM) that controls the entire robot’s actions, according to a news release.
The achievement stems from a joint research partnership between Boston Dynamics and TRI, announced in October 2024. The collaboration aims to create a general-purpose humanoid assistant.
Scott Kuindersma, vice president of robotics research at Boston Dynamics, emphasized the significance of this work.
“This work provides a glimpse into how we’re thinking about building general-purpose robots that will transform how we live and work,” he said in the release.
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