boston dynamics

Boston Dynamics robots dance to ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ for ‘America’s Got Talent’ audition

Robotics /

A dance crew of four-legged robots from Boston Dynamics appeared on “America’s Got Talent” to perform a synchronized routine to Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now.” Their performance was impressive enough to earn four “yes” votes from the judges — but one of the five robots experienced some stage fright, perhaps, and shut down in the […]

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Meta is studying how humans and robots can collaborate on housework

Robotics /

Meta Friday announced PARTNR, a new program designed to study human-robot interaction (HRI). The research is specifically focused on how humans and robots might collaborate in the home environment. That includes mundane tasks like cleaning, cooking, and picking up food deliveries. Automated housework is a decades-old dream, most prominently captured by The Jetsons’ Rosie. The

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Boston Dynamics joins forces with its former CEO to speed the learning of its Atlas humanoid robot

Hardware /

Boston Dynamics Wednesday announced a partnership designed to bring improved reinforcement learning to its electric Atlas humanoid robot. The tie-up is with the Robotics & AI Institute (RAI Institute), earlier known as The Boston Dynamics AI Institute. Both organizations were founded by Marc Raibert, a former MIT professor who served as Boston Dynamics’ CEO for

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Boston Dynamics settles patent suit with military robotics firm Ghost

Robotics /

Roughly two and a half years after their patent battle began, Boston Dynamics and Ghost Robotics have settled the dispute on reasonably amicable terms. The robotics firms on Wednesday issued a joint release announcing the end of the dispute.  “We are pleased to resolve this dispute on mutually advantageous terms,” Boston Dynamics Chief Legal Officer

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Boston Dynamics’ Atlas humanoid hot dogs for the camera

Robotics /

Automation skeptics ask: why humanoids? We’ve discussed many of the benefits and drawbacks of the robotics form factor, but Boston Dynamics’ latest electric Atlas video showcases one of the most under discussed factors: costumes. “Why build a humanoid robot?” the company rhetorically posits. “Because the world is designed for humans, including all the best Halloween

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Boston Dynamics’ electric Atlas humanoid executes autonomous automotive parts picking

AI /

Boston Dynamics’ new humanoid has been quietly improving by leaps and bounds behind the scenes. Announced in April, we caught some brief insight into the electric Atlas’ strength in August through a video of the robot doing pushups. The latest video, released Wednesday, showcases the robot doing work in a demo space, moving engine parts

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Boston Dynamics’ Spot can now autonomously unlock doors

Robotics /

In a deal revealed Monday, door hardware giant Assa Abloy announced that Boston Dynamics’ Spot will be able to autonomously unlock its automated doors. “Until now,” the lock maker notes, “the word ‘autonomous’ didn’t apply to Spot’s ability to open accessed-controlled doors easily.” The “embedded digital access credentials” work over Bluetooth, allowing the four-legged robot

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Industries may be ready for humanoid robots, but are the robots ready for them?

Robotics /

You could easily walk the entire Automate floor without spotting a single humanoid. There was a grand total of three, by my count — or, rather, three units of the same nonworking prototype. Neura was showing off its long-promised 4NE-1 robot, amid more traditional form factors. There was a little photo setup where you could

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