Google’s Humanoid Robot Roams Forest

Google’s Boston Dynamics has unveiled video of its Atlas robot roaming a forest.

IF you go down to the woods today you’re sure of a big surprise…

Google’s Boston Dynamics has unveiled video of its Atlas robot roaming a forest.

The footage shows the humanoid machine, with a power cord trailing from its back, unsteadily traversing a forest path without falling.

Atlas, which has 28 hydraulically actuated joints and stereo vision, stands at 6ft 2in tall and weighs 330lb (150kg).

Marc Raibert, founder of Boston Dynamics, which was bought by Google in 2013, discussed the project this month at a symposium in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
“We’re interested in getting this robot out into the world,” he said. “Out in the world is just a totally different challenge than in the lab.

“You can’t predict what it’s going to be like.

“All kinds of stuff happens out there, and we’re making pretty good progress on making it so it has mobility that’s sort of within shooting range of yours.

“I’m not saying it can do everything you can do, but you can imagine if we keep pushing we’ll get there.”

He said Boston Dynamics is working on an upgraded version of Atlas that doesn’t require a tether.
The robot has been equipped with a lithium-ion battery pack that can allow it to keep moving for about an hour.

But the developers acknowledge there’s still a long way to go.

Atlas fell flat on its face in a Pentagon contest this summer to find a robot that could best cope with an environment like the 2011 disaster at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Robotics Challenge in June was won by a team from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology.- Skynews