DARPA’s Incredible Humanoid Robot Can Now Walk On Its Own Two Feet, NoSupport Required

Keep in mind ATLAS? That monstrous strolling robot that DARPA is building with (the now Google-possessed) Boston Motion? 

Last time we saw it, it had two noteworthy defects that made it ever-so-marginally less scary: it was uproarious as hellfire, and it required an enormous, thick help link to keep it controlled and upright. 

Both of those issues have been settled. 

DARPA discharged a feature today exhibiting the most recent variant of ATLAS, and its a doozy. DARPA says in regards to 75% of the bot has been updated, with just the stuff underneath the knees continuing through to the end.

Though the past era ATLAS got its energy through an unattractive link tie (subsequently incredibly constraining its range), the robot now conveys its own particular force source on its back. It can work for 60 minutes prior to its independent battery is emptied. 

While the ATLAS in the feature above is still held up by a help rope, its just for the wellbeing of its administrators — and not in the "Gracious god, detestable robot free to move around at will!" sense. Coming in at about 350 pounds of metal and sharp corners and still simply figuring out how to walk, its not precisely something you need to come smashing down on your head.

In the interim, the new ATLAS is extensively quieter than the eras earlier. Simply a year back, meeting expectations by ATLAS implied wearing ear plugs — now, because of another weight pump outline, the commotion is more irritating than it is stunning. 

Past that, a cluster of little changes bring ATLAS a couple of steps closer to something out of John Connor's bad dreams: the arms have been repositioned to build their extent, new actuators in the arms and legs make it stronger than at any other time in recent memory, and a remote crisis stop permits the administrator to in a flash force the fitting when things go astray (that is until the robot goes aware, tears out its own particular killswitch, and busts through the divider to opportunity, obviously.) 

Goodness, and because of the newly discovered capacity to turn at the wrist, ATLAS can open entryway handles — so if your plan to survive the Robocalypse included covering up in a floor brush storage room, it may be time to think of another

For reference, here where ATLAS was at the end of 2013: