Atlas Humanoid Robot Might End Up As Robotic Butler

It was in April last year that the Pentagon showed off their spanking new Atlas robot, which might very well change the way that wars are fought on the battlefield. However, is there a possibility of transforming machines which are meant to help other footsoldiers out during war to also be useful when peace abounds? Perhaps, as you can see in the video of Atlas in action above.

The humanoid robot that walks, runs and carries heavy loads has undergone a calibration program, which means he is now able to perform (simple) chores in and around the home. The video above depicts the team at IHMC Robotics performing calibration tests on Atlas, where such tests enable the operators to figure out Atlas’s movements in the real world, and will then result in them tweaking Atlas’s motions.

For instance, clicking on a bottle in a UI representation of the environment would then allow Atlas to reach out and grab the bottle in the most efficient manner. Robot operator John Carff shared, “It takes a lot of patience and out-of-the-box thinking to be a robot operator. When you approach a task or situation you’ve never seen before, you need to think of as many different ways of completing that task as you can and figure out what approach would be best for the robot. Many of the tasks ATLAS performs are done a lot differently than a human would do the same task.”

Edwin Kee
Categories: Home, Robots
Tags: atlas, pentagon