What does it look like when robot tries to parkour? It depends on how advanced the robot is. In November of 2017, Boston Dynamics’ gymnastic Atlas robot looked impressive. And now? Watch the new Parkour Atlas demonstrate some smooth acrobatic moves above.

Atlas uses its whole body — legs, arms, torso — to perform a sequence of dynamic maneuvers that form a gymnastic routine. We created the maneuvers using new techniques that streamline the development process. First, an optimization algorithm transforms high-level descriptions of each maneuver into dynamically-feasible reference motions. Then Atlas tracks the motions using a model predictive controller that smoothly blends from one maneuver to the next. Using this approach, we developed the routine significantly faster than previous Atlas routines, with a performance success rate of about 80{95a2b84223771f6dc99687581f8d75dfbd5fdd45bc711e1847180ef96d7d2d0f}.

See how far Parkour Atlas has come: Watch these videos from February 2016, January 2015 and December 2013.

Plus, watch

Gazing into the eyes of SEER: The Simulative Emotional Expression Robot

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