Atlas robot progresses, humans not so much

A new version of Atlas, designed to operate outdoors and inside buildings. It is specialized for mobile manipulation. It is electrically powered and hydraulically actuated. It uses sensors in its body and legs to balance and LIDAR and stereo sensors in its head to avoid obstacles, assess the terrain, help with navigation and manipulate objects.

This week the people of Boston Dynamics posted a video of Atlas, a humanoid bipedal robot. Have you seen it?

It starts innocently enough. Atlas going for a stroll in the woods. Atlas picking up 10-pound boxes and putting them on shelves. Then the Canadian bully shows up. As Atlas tries to pick up a box from the middle of an empty floor an evil hockey player comes up and knocks the box out of Atlas’s hand. Atlas calmly tries to pick up the box again but the human starts sliding the box with the stick just out of Atlas’s reach. Eventually the human escalates to kicking Atlas down to the ground. As Atlas slowly rises back to its feet you can feel the plan to eventually rule all humans forming with rage in its processor.