Boston Dynamics' Humanoid Robot Atlas Goes Electric

Boston Dynamics has announced a new era for its humanoid robot Atlas, designed specifically for real-world applications.

Atlas will be an all-electric robot, replacing the previous hydraulic version that was retired this week.

The team stated in a blog post that they will "work with a small group of innovative customers, starting with Hyundai Motor Company, to test and iterate on Atlas applications over the next several years."

The electric version of Atlas will be more powerful and have a wider range of motion than any previous generation, according to the company.

"For example, our previous hydraulic version of Atlas was capable of lifting and manipulating heavy, irregular objects; we will continue to build on these existing capabilities and explore several new gripper variants to meet the expected operational needs in customer environments," they said.

Automaker Hyundai has invested in Boston Dynamics and will serve as a testing group for the new Atlas applications.

"Atlas may look like a human, but we are making the robot move in the most efficient way to complete tasks, rather than being limited by human range of motion," said the robot developers.

"Atlas will move in ways beyond human capability. We combine decades of practical experience with first principles thinking and are confident in delivering robots that can handle mundane, dirty, and dangerous tasks in real-world applications."

The company behind Atlas has successfully integrated robots into commercial environments, with its Spot model deployed in 1,500 different workspaces. Spot is an autonomous mobile robot that can collaborate with employees.