L NOVEMBER 26

Asmall backflip by a humanoid robot is creating all the buzz and frenzy in the world of technology. It’s awesome and scary at the same time. A giant leap in robotics but puts people on an uneasy turf, bringing to light once again, the scare of robots and artificial intelligence.

What seemed like a distant dream, where robots will be so close to human ability, the latest video of backflipping “Atlas”— humanoid robot by Boston Dynamics is out from fantasy and sci-fi movie coming into reality.

Atlas is the humanoid robot from Boston Dynamics’ staple. It is one of the robots that can move like a human and perform several functions that other similar robots cannot do. Its size is relatively large, standing at 1.5m tall, weighing more than 165 pounds and carrying 22.4 pounds on its own, but it can do backflips. The only limitation is the battery power. As it continuously needs to balance itself on uneven ground, a lot of motion and power is utilised to keep it going.

Many of the parts used to build this robot is made from 3D printing. It helps to reduce the weight of the robot and provides more mobility. It expands the workspace for this robot with a small footprint and high strength to weight ratio. The other useful features like stereo vision and range sensing will help the robot manage difficult terrains and manipulate its surrounding objects.