The company at the forefront of robotics Boston Dynamics has just published a new video on its YouTube channel. There we find his new Atlas robot, in an environment close to that of a factory. In recent years, the company Boston Dynamics has accustomed us to impressive videos, with a robot demonstrating all its agility on very complicated courses.
But this time it’s very different. Boston Dynamics prefers instead to highlight the robot’s autonomous capabilities, particularly in a professional environment such as a factory. In this video we can therefore see the Atlas robot, free from any contrary, perform movements according to its automatic learning system.
The goal of the video is to move “motor covers between supplier containers and a mobile sequencing cart.” Nothing very exciting. But for Boston Dynamics this video is very important. She demonstrates that her robot can move alone and carry out simple tasks. For factories, the presence of a robot like Atlas could make life easier for employees by carrying out repetitive tasks.
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Robotics and artificial intelligence
To achieve such a result, Boston Dynamics has brought together two very promising technologies from recent years, robotics and artificial intelligence. In the specific case of Atlas, it was machine learning technology that was used so that the robot could move as best as possible in this environment.
This method allows the robot to try various solutions, always remembering the consequences of its last attempts. By operating in this way, through trial and error, the robot ends up finding the solution that works and can then repeat it endlessly.
Autonomous robots: the next step
The world of robotics has made big plans in recent years. But autonomy is still not a resolved problem. During Tesla’s recent Cybercab presentation, humanoid robots caused a sensation. They circulated among the crowds to serve drinks or take care of the special guests.
But we learned a few days later that these robots were not autonomous. They were controlled remotely by flesh-and-blood humans, which takes away some of the prestige of the service. To date, the most famous robot, the dog Spot from Boston Dynamics, is also controlled remotely.
Robot autonomy is the next step in their development. If this point is ethnically debatable, developments seem unstoppable on this subject. Many companies are already working on autonomous robots, and the encouraging first results from Boston Dynamics show that the long-awaited technological breakthrough is not that far away.
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