Boston Dynamics' Atlas Robot Performs a 360-Degree Jump on Wheels
The experiment helps engineers measure how simulation-trained controllers perform on real hardware and refine actuator models under sustained high-speed loads.
- Boston Dynamics, a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Group, released a video Monday showing Atlas equipped with wheels instead of feet performing demanding movements designed to test motor limits and whole-body control technology.
- Engineers replaced Atlas' feet with wheels to create demanding conditions for testing actuators and investigating how simulation-trained controllers operate real hardware under sustained high-speed movement and heavy loads.
- The 2-minute video captured from YouTube shows Atlas executing a 360-degree spinning jump and rolling sideways while balancing on one wheel. The robot utilized reinforcement learning to master these complex maneuvers on its first attempts.
- Andy Wu, an Atlas controls engineer, said he was "pleasantly surprised that training did in fact figure out how to use the wheels to roll during the side dash." The discovery demonstrated unexpected movement strategies the robot developed independently.
- Despite the impressive demonstration, Boston Dynamics stated the wheeled version of Atlas is strictly an experimental research platform with no plans to commercialize. The findings will influence development of Atlas' standard configuration and future whole-body learning capabilities.
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“The 360-degree jump was successful on the very first attempt. This was thanks to the trajectory tracking system that follows the video recording of the jumper’s movements.” Andy Wu, a control engineer on the Boston Dynamics humanoid robot Atlas development team, [mentioned] that the Atlas, equipped with wheels instead of feet, performed high-difficulty stunts.
Boston Dynamics, a robotics affiliate of Hyundai Motor Group, has unveiled its humanoid robot 'Atlas' equipped with wheels instead of feet. In a video posted on Boston Dynamics' YouTube channel on the 9th (local time), Atlas moves rapidly like a roller skater and changes direction freely. It also performs a stable 360-degree rotation jump, spinning its body in the air before landing, much like a figure skater.
(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Jang Ha-na = A warehouse piled high with boxes and other materials. Atlas, equipped with scooter wheels instead of feet, rides as if figure skating...
Boston Dynamics has equipped its humanoid robot, Atlas, with wheels, allowing it to move quickly by rolling on flat ground, while also using its articulated legs to jump over obstacles and traverse uneven surfaces. The "experiment" combined classic model-based motion control with...
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