Boston Dynamics' 300-pound (136-kilogram) humanoid robot named Atlas, featured in the DARPA Robotics Challenge 2015, is now being tested outdoors. In a new video the machine developed by the Google-owned company takes a walk in a New England forest while stabilizing its footing over large rocks.
Most of Atlas' testing has been conducted indoors in highly-controlled labs. The project has received funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), according to Tech Crunch.
Marc Raibert is Boston Dynamics' founder. At a robotics conference this month he explained that the company wants to test the new robotics tech in the real world because unexpected events happen there.
Google purchased Boston Dynamics in 2013. The company's best-known invention is probably its unique BigDog robot, and its smaller version Spot, according to NBC News. It has so developed Cheetah, a four-footed robot that sprints at 28 miles per hour (45 km/h).
However, in the past few years the company's humanoid robots have been in the spotlight. Atlas walks very similar to humans and maintains its balance like they do, by shifting its bodyweight on uneven surfaces such as huge rocks.
When robots operate outdoors, a critical skill is for them to navigate city streets, forest paths, and other natural environments. At the 2015 Robotics Challenge, Atlas and other robots had to perform various human abilities, such as opening doors and operating machines.
Many androids at the event fell down or could not do basic tasks. Still, robot science has improved immensely in the past couple of years.
Raibert admitted that humanoid robotics cannot yet do every task that humans can. However, he painted the picture of one day that scenario becoming a reality.