Atlas Robot Performs Autonomous Automotive Tasks

­Since 2013, Boston Dynamics’ Atlas bipedal robot has slowly transitioned from a tech demo and all-around nightmare to something genuinely useful. And Atlas recently showed off what could be one of its primary functions – performing autonomous industrial and retail tasks (in this case, moving automotive parts around in a factory setting).

Boston Dynamics insists that Atlas was performing its tasks 100% autonomously, without “prescribed or teleoperated movements.”

Indeed, “The robot is able to detect and react to changes in the environment (e.g., moving fixtures) and action failures (e.g., failure to insert the cover, tripping, environment collision) using a combination of vision, force, and proprioceptive sensors.”

Taking a look at the demo, Atlas is very impressive-looking, and while its precise, jerky movements are more than a little unsettling and other than being a biped, it shares little in common with humans, it doesn’t need to pass for human to perform industrial tasks like this.

Instead, and somewhat alarmingly, it just needs to operate as good or better than humans, precluding the need for the latter in numerous circumstances.

As others have pointed out, the video also shows Atlus rotating at the waist, courtesy of its actuators, saving time.

And in case you were wondering, Atlas is far from the first such robot pining for work in the automotive sector, though it’s worth pointing out that Boston Dynamics is owned by Hyundai.