Atlas Robot Does The Karate Kid Kick

Robots – the latest frontier that could very well usher in a new age of war, especially if they happen to gain sentience in this lifetime of ours, mobilizing the robotic world to turn against us humans. Now that’s a scary thought, although it does not look as though the field of Artificial Intelligence has gone down such a path yet. Well, if that happens, perhaps we might want to be more wary of this fearsome two-legged robot known as Atlas, which is the brainchild of Boston Dynamics. What did Atlas do to garner such publicity? Apparently, it managed to recreate the signature crane kick from Karate Kid.

Those who have watched the Karate Kid movie in the past will definitely have fond memories of the ‘crane’ kick which Mr Miyagi taught his protégé, Daniel. This unique move would require the Atlas robot to balance on one leg, before it follows that up with some lightning quick footwork.

Boston Dynamics was purchased by Google not too long ago, and the group has specially programmed the Atlas robot to perform this iconic Karate Kid move. Could we be staring down at the barrel of a new robot age? This is certainly a scary proposition for sure, and hopefully both man and machine can live in harmony down the road.

Edwin Kee
Categories: Robots
Tags: atlas