The advances being made in robotics are both incredible and somewhat scary, because there's no doubt that they're only a couple of decades away from being as intelligent as human beings. At the forefront of these advances is Boston Dynamics, a Massachusetts-based robotics and engineering company that's creating some of the most cutting-edge robots anywhere in the world. Let's take a look at 3 of its most recent (and utterly amazing) creations:
1. Atlas
Welcome to the world's first back-flipping robot. Atlas is capable of leaping from platform to platform, then celebrating its successes by doing a back-flip or two. Robotics experts say that the achievement of the latter feat is truly impressive, and that's because of the difficulty posed by perfecting the balance required for it to land without tipping over.
Although it will be a while before humanoid robots are walking the streets, the technology is getting better with each passing year. What's more is that Boston Dynamics is now owned by SoftBank, the giant Japanese telecommunications corporation, so there are no question marks over the availability of funds to further any development!
First launched in 2016, SpotMini is a personal assistant robot that can work in offices or the home. Weighing a mere 55 lbs, the all-electric robot has a charge that can last up to 90 minutes depending on what it's doing and uses a series of perception sensors including stereo cameras, depth cameras and position/force sensors in the limbs.
3. New SpotMini
The yellow "new SpotMinI" robot is a lighter, leaner version that does away with the robotic arm featured in its predecessor. It's almost like having a headless, yellow dog roaming about in your backyard. Quite novel, perhaps, but rather odd at the same time.
