If you have already been in the evening with me, you know that I love to impress the gallery with my breakdance figures on the dance floor on Saturday evening. Well today, it is death at heart that I announce that I stop my dance career because the competition is too tough! Indeed, Atlas, the humanoid robot of Boston Dynamicshas just published his candidacy on video for the next dance with the stars of 2026, which reduces my chances to nothing.
As you can see, Atlas is now able to make different rather complex movements. The video shows us an impressive progression, first a simple walk, then a fluid race where the robot leans its body forward exactly like a human athlete. Then, we see him moving on all fours, execute a front rolling on the shoulder, then chain with a perfectly controlled pear tree and even breakdance figures that would make any street dancer fade with envy. And to top it all, a side salto that seems to challenge the laws of physics!
Nothing to do with the previous generations of Atlas & Mldr; Besides, the final lateral salto even makes researchers scream with large glasses who attend the demonstration. Amazing ! I am amazed. It must be said that the robot has joints with complete rotations and that its modules, more and more miniaturized are capable of operating wirelessly. We are far from the rigid and clumsy C-3PO of Starwars & Mldr;
In short, when Donald will see that, he will certainly want to put a very very big rifle in his hands to go and fight the very very nasty Greenlanders.
The good news is that Boston Dynamics associates with Nvidia To use Isaac Lab as a virtual learning environment for robots, with behind multi-modal AI models. This collaboration allows Atlas to exploit the power of the calculation platform Nvidia jetson thorspecially designed for advanced robotic applications. Thanks to its compact size and high performance, Jetson Thor allows Atlas to run complex AI models that work perfectly with Boston Dynamics controllers. It is the top to bring this heap of metal and threads into another dimension, using in particular what is called “Reinforcement learning”.
And if the names seem familiar to you (Thor, Isaac, GR00T), rest assured, the engineers of Nvidia are apparently as fans of Marvel as you and me. Except that they have the budget to name their projects accordingly.
Reinforcement learning here consists in capturing human movements and using it as a reference basis, then carrying out tests to reward or “punish” the robot according to whether or not. A bit like when you teach your dog to make the beautiful, except that here the treats are replaced by lines of code and that the dog weighs 80 kg. Concretely, the robot receives virtual “points” when it approaches the reference human movement, and loses it when it moves away from it. It allows very fast learning, much more effective than if I tried to learn the Moonwalk by following YouTube tutorials for months.
Boston Dynamics and the Robotics and AI Institute De Hyundai have also collaborated to collect data from human physical behavior by capture of movements, which explains why Atlas now manages to carry out so fluid and natural movements.
Besides, another video shows one of these robots on a chain of automotive assembly and Hyundai says he wants to start tests by the end of 2025. The advantage of these robots is that their human form allows them to quickly fit into environments designed for humans and use tools that we can use ourselves. Logic and terribly more effective than other robots that look more like large ladybugs or giant arms.
Industrial applications are particularly promising, especially in dangerous or complex environments. Atlas could soon handle heavy parts, do inspections in risk areas, or even carry out specific maintenance operations that only qualified humans can perform so far. And of course, he will never ask for an increase or RTT.
Now, it remains to be seen whether we are ready for a world where robots will do everything we can do, better and for cheaper. Personally, yes because I have so much work in the garden, that a robot that makes the chainsaw or passes to the Grelinette my vegetable garden, it would be the foot!
To see how the next generations of Atlas will evolve, but one thing is certain, Boston Dynamics and Nvidia show us that the border between science fiction and reality is reduced every day. It remains to be hoped that ALAS does not teach air guitar in the shower or to play Simcity 2000, otherwise I would really have nothing to bring to humanity.
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