Nearly 11 years after first launching its current humanoid robot, Boston Dynamics is retiring Atlas. The DARPA-funded robot was designed with search and rescue missions in mind, with the idea that it could enter areas that were not safe for humans to perform a variety of tasks. However, Atlas became something of a star thanks to videos showing his impressive feats of strength, agility, and balance. Fittingly, Atlas trots off into the sunset with
“For nearly a decade, Atlas has sparked our imaginations, inspired the next generations of roboticists, and broken technical barriers in this field,” the YouTube description reads. “Now it's time for our Atlas hydraulic robot to kick back and relax.”
Boston Dynamics' goodbye to Atlas not only shows something of what the robot can do. It's also a bit of a mistake. In addition to throwing a bag of tools and jumping between platforms, Atlas slips, trips, and falls several times in the clip; Oddly enough, that makes him seem more human.
Boston Dynamics, of course, has more commercially successful robots in its lineup, including . However, it's probably not the end of the line for the company's humanoid robots. “Take a look at everything we've accomplished with the Atlas platform to date,” reads the description of the farewell video. Those last two words suggest that Boston Dynamics isn't done with that side of robotics yet.
Engadget has contacted the company for details on its future humanoid robot development plans. For now, it looks like Atlas might be looking for a dance partner Wednesday afternoon at a robot retirement home.
