Meet Boston Dynamics’ new all-electric Atlas robot

Boston Dynamics, the 32-year-old company famed for its amusing or creepy (depending on your interpretation) advanced robots including Atlas (humanoid) and Spot (a dog-like quadruped) featured in viral videos over the years showing off their acrobatic movements and dances, has announced a significant evolution in its product lineup—the retirement of its hydraulic Atlas robot lineup after 11 years and the launch of a new, fully electric version.

The difference between hydraulics and electric motors is, of course, non-trivial and has tremendous implications in terms of cost, design requirements, and performance. In a nutshell: while hydraulics rely on fluid and pistons to manipulate and move machinery and cargo, electric motors rely on electrical energy to rotate and move parts directly. Electric motors tend to be cheaper, quieter, lighter, and less complex than hydraulics, but may wear out faster and more easily, and not offer the same load bearing or strength capabilities of the former.

In the case of a robot, hydraulics might seem to be preferred then, but if they are too noisy or the fluid too difficult to deal with — e.g. prone to leaking or needing replenishment — they may stand in the way of practical commercial deployments. Hence why Boston Dynamics is likely pursuing an electric design successor.

This development marks a pivotal shift as the company continues to expand its robust suite of commercial robotics applications. Boston Dynamics also released a video demo showing the new Atlas standing up and walking confidently after lying flat on the ground, embedded above.

One of my colleagues was so impressed, he said it looked like a Sam Raimi (Evil Dead and Spider-Man 2002 movie director) creation — especially since the new Atlas moves its legs up and around its pelvis to stand in a way that would defy the limitations of most ordinary people’s human anatomy (though maybe it is easier for contortionists).

Why a new Atlas, why now?

Boston Dynamics describes its new electric Atlas as a leap forward in the realm of humanoid robots, designed not only to meet but exceed the capabilities of its predecessors.

With enhanced strength and a broader range of motion, the electric Atlas is equipped to handle a variety of complex tasks across different industries.

This includes the potential for manipulation of heavy, irregular objects through newly developed gripper technologies, showcasing Boston Dynamics’ commitment to versatility and innovation in robotics design.

Among the first applications for the new electric Atlas will be in automotive manufacturing for Hyundai, Boston Dynamics’ parent company.

Boston Dynamics’ team is putting forth the idea that Hyundai is the right home for it in its blog post today, stating: “the Hyundai team is building the next generation of automotive manufacturing capabilities, and it will serve as a perfect testing ground for new Atlas applications. In the months and years ahead, we’re excited to show what the world’s most dynamic humanoid robot can really do—in the lab, in the factory, and in our lives.”

Automotive manufacturing processes and plants are no stranger to robotics, of course — the industry was among the first to embrace heavy robots for assembly and painting, and 30% of global robotics investment is in automotive robots, according to a recent research report by the firm Research and Markets.

The same report noted that the automotive robotics sector alone saw $8.04 billion transactions last year, while the overall robotics market is projected to double in value by 2030, so it makes sense that Hyundai would want to put its own investment to work in this category.

A long, bumpy road for Atlas and Boston Dynamics

Close students and observers of Boston Dynamics’ long history may recall that it has had a bumpy road on the business end: It began as a promising research-focused startup founded as a commercial project from former Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) electrical engineering and computer science professor Marc Raibert and his PhD student Robert Playter, who went on to become Boston Dynamics’ CEO after leaving MIT’s “Leg Lab.”

But it struggled to field a viable commercial robot in its early years and find commercial applications, ultimately being acquired by Google in 2013, sold to Softbank in 2017, and ultimately, acquired by Hyundai in 2021 for a reported near $1 billion price.

The first Atlas robot was unveiled in 2013 but was never commercialized, while the dog-like Spot robot did become available for sale in 2020 and has found its way into police forces and militaries and other applications around the world (though Boston Dynamics itself has not, in the past, supported overt weaponization of its products).

Now, however, the company appears to be headed towards a more commercial bent just as competition in the humanoid robotics form factor is increasing from the likes of Tesla with its Optimus design, well-funded startup Figure backed by OpenAI and others, Amazon’s partner Agility Robotics, and, on the non-humanoid side, the ex-Amazon led Collaborative Robotics aka Cobot, which just last week announced a $100 million raise for package handling robots.

All of these rivals explicitly have commercial applications in mind.

In addition, my colleague at VentureBeat, Ben Dickinson, just yesterday published a great overview of how the big trend in tech — AI large language models (LLMs) — was leading to a whole new acceleration of research in robot development and commercialization.

But this time around, Boston Dynamics is bringing more to the table than hardware and control software: it recently launched Orbit, a platform for managing whole fleets of its robots, site maps, and digital transformation data, initially available for Spot and soon to be extended to include Stretch and Atlas.

Such advancements in machine learning and artificial intelligence are central to the company’s strategy, ensuring that their robots can adapt efficiently to varied and complex scenarios.

What’s next for Atlas and Boston Dynamics?

Much like its competitors, Boston Dynamics envisions a future where humanoid robots are integral to the digital transformation strategies of businesses worldwide.

It expects to be a leader in bringing this vision to reality, with its deployment providing valuable insights into the operational and data-centric applications of robotics in everyday business processes.

In sum, Boston Dynamics’ launch of the electric Atlas represents more than just the next step in robotics—it’s a glimpse into the future of industry, where human-like robots could become as commonplace as the computers and machinery that currently populate our workplaces.

As the company continues to innovate and expand its technological horizons, the electric Atlas is poised to be at the forefront of this transformative journey.