Boston Dynamics Swaps Atlas's Feet for Wheels in New Research Test

At a glance

Boston Dynamics has shown a research experiment that replaces the feet of its humanoid robot Atlas with wheels. The goal was to study how skills learned in simulation carry over to a real robot and to look at the limits of its motors. The company says this is a research testbed, not a product.

Key points

1. 1

   The robot was trained in a simulation (a computer-based virtual environment) through millions of learning runs before being applied to the real robot.

2. 2

   It succeeded at rolling movements and a 360-degree jump, and the company says the jump worked on the first try.

3. 3

   The only hardware change was one adapter that connects scooter wheels to the ankle motors.

4. 4

   Next, the team plans to study whether learning-based control can still cope when a motor fails.

Why it matters

It shows that robots need both hardware and learned control to handle unexpected problems, such as motor failures, outside the lab.