The last time we saw Boston Dymanics's humanoid robot Atlas, it was running through the woods like a Walking Dead zombie. Now, the thing is giving Simone Biles a run for her money on the balance beam.
Okay, we might be exaggerating a bit, but Atlas can practically do gymnastics or yoga now. A video posted to YouTube last week (below) shows the robot balancing on one foot while standing on a 2cm thick plywood edge. To put that in perspective, an actual balance beam is 10cm wide.
To give Atlas this new skill, Boston Dynamics got some help from the nonprofit Institute for Human & Machine Cognition (IHMC), which developed the control algorithm and explained that the shaking "is caused by poor state estimation" since they used only onboard sensors.
Just keep in mind that, like a lot of things you see online, Atlas's balance stunt in the video is partially an illusion. IHMC said the video was recorded during a "lucky run."
"Usually the robot is not able to maintain balance for this long," the team wrote.
Regardless, that one lucky run was pretty impressive.
Meanwhile, when Atlas is not creeping through the forest or training for the 2020 Olympics, it's working on its balance in the lab by walking swiftly over a pile of rocks that mimic the rough terrain a robot might encounter in a search-and-rescue or combat situation.
"All kinds of stuff happens out there and we're making pretty good progress on making it so that it has mobility that's sort of within shooting range of [a human's]," Boston Dynamics Founder Marc Raibert said last year. "I'm not saying it can do everything you can do, but you can imagine if we keep pushing, we'll get there."
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About Our Expert

Angela Moscaritolo
Managing Editor, Consumer Electronics
Experience
I'm PCMag's managing editor for consumer electronics, overseeing an experienced team of analysts covering smart home, home entertainment, wearables, fitness and health tech, and various other product categories. I have been with PCMag for more than 10 years, and in that time have written more than 6,000 articles and reviews for the site. I previously served as an analyst focused on smart home and wearable devices, and before that I was a reporter covering consumer tech news. I'm also a yoga instructor, and have been actively teaching group and private classes for nearly a decade.
Prior to joining PCMag, I was a reporter for SC Magazine, focusing on hackers and computer security. I earned a BS in journalism from West Virginia University, and started my career writing for newspapers in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.
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