Boston Dynamics’ ‘Atlas’ Robot Retires With Silly Montage Revealing Its Fumbles

Video screenshot via Boston Dynamics

Atlas, the humanoid robot of Boston Dynamics, is taking its final bow, with the Hyundai-owned robotics firm announcing its surprise retirement.

While initially envisioned for search-and-rescue operations, Atlas—a DARPA-funded project that debuted in 2013—primarily served as a platform for the company to develop and refine its advanced bipedal locomotion technology. Its humanlike behavior allowed it to navigate rough terrain, perform parkour moves, do backflips, and even dance.

“For almost a decade, Atlas has sparked our imagination, inspired the next generations of roboticists, and leaped over technical barriers in the field,” Boston Dynamics explains in the description for its farewell video. “Now it’s time for our hydraulic Atlas robot to kick back and relax.”

Atlas’s athletic glories have always been flaunted. This time, the firm has revealed some glimpses of the robot’s slip-ups by peppering some bloopers into the footage.

Atlas can be seen losing its balance after jumping between crates, walking into the closing doors of an elevator, and rolling down muddy terrain. Sometimes, when it fumbles, its hydraulics, too, lose control, which makes the fails even funnier.

Why Boston Dynamics is moving Atlas to the retirement home remains unclear [Update: now we know why]. However, with the field of humanoid robotics heating up, it’s possible that the company may be focusing its efforts on more commercially viable applications, like the popular Spot robot dog or the warehouse-versatile Stretch.

[via TechCrunch, IEEE Spectrum, Engadget, video and cover screenshot via Boston Dynamics]