Boston Dynamics’ Atlas robots show off new parkour moves

Boston Dynamics has published new videos showcasing its bipedal Atlas robots demonstrating an extremely impressive gymnastics routine. They flip, they vault, they nearly fall over but catch their balance at the last moment. As Boston Dynamics has said before, Atlas is essentially a research project: a cutting-edge machine that helps the company’s engineers work out better control and perception systems. ’At a practical level it’s a platform for us to do R&D on,’ says Benjamin Stephens, control lead for Atlas. That research includes these gymnastic and parkour routines, with which the company regularly delights (and unnerves) the internet. In the end, what we may end up experiencing is not a robot uprising with the goal of complete world domination, but rather a huge mechanical ’Step Up’-like dance-off. Follow us on Telegram