Earlier this year, Boston Dynamics showed off a demo of their SpotMini robodog opening a door like a velociraptor. Now, it has acquired a brand new skill. With no lead and no direct guidance, SpotMini can now go on patrol and make its way through a noisy indoor area while avoiding objects and even mastering some stairs.
As noted in the video description, SpotMini is making this route on its own, but it isn’t figuring its path out from scratch. Instead, Spot was trained on this exact path and given an opportunity to see where it was going ahead of time, slurping up data with various cameras. It then uses this data to localize itself in the map to detect and avoid obstacles. Once the operator presses 'GO', the robot is on its own. See it in action below!
If this wasn't enough technology for you, the very same company has created a robot, by the name of Atlas, that can run autonomously and jump over obstacles, in this case, a log. Three years ago, Boston Dynamics released some footage of a Terminator-like humanoid running through a forest aided by a machine. Now that same robot, as shown in the video below, can run across and navigate terrain and obstacles unaided...
With their advanced sensors, hiding from robots has never been viable, but running away from their plodding frames has been, until now. Robots can now run after you.
It might be pure coincidence that Boston Dynamics released their latest videos while government officials, researchers, and industry executives gathered at the White House for a summit on artificial intelligence, but we highly doubt that. If technology keeps advancing as quickly as it is, in a couple of years, we might need some sort of slow-motion camera in order to see Atlas when he's running at full flight...
