Now that humanoids are all the rage in the robotics industry, Boston Dynamics on Tuesday officially retired theirs. The Hyundai-owned firm has always marched to the beat of its own drummer. Even so, it’s an odd decision as funding pours into the category by the hundreds of millions.
Boston Dynamics has been focused on commercializing technologies for a number of years now. Hyundai’s 2021 acquisition of the firm, coupled with the appointment of Rob Playter as its second-ever CEO, has further accelerated that path. Given the tremendous interest around companies like Agility, Figure, 1X and Apptronik, it stands to reason that -- at the very least -- the Waltham, Massachusetts-based company has -- at the very least -- seriously explored the commercial humanoid category.
“At the time of its debut, Atlas was one of the most advanced humanoid robots ever built,” DARPA notes, “but it was essentially a physical shell for the software brains and nerves that the teams developed.” Atlas has taken many strides in the intervening decade, of course, as the bipedal robot continues to factor into Boston Dynamics’ research and promotional material. Today, however, marks the end of the road for the robot. While many of the system's advances in locomotion still impress, certain aspects, like its hydraulics, are antiquated by contemporary robotics standards.