See Boston Dynamics' new robot perform contortions worthy of “The Exorcist”

One day after announcing the “retirement” of his famous Atlas robot known for doing pirouettes and doing parkour, Boston Dynamics announced the new version of its humanoid machine. With joints capable of rotating 360º, the robot is now fully electric abandoning hydraulic mechanisms once and for all.

Due to its new design, the company claims that the new Atlas is capable of performing a much greater range of movements than its predecessor and surpassing the limits of human movement. In the presentation video, the robot appears lying down and gets up performing inhuman contortion, which made some people describe it as “disturbing”.

“We designed the electric version of the Atlas to be stronger, more dexterous and more agile,” said the company, in a statement. “Atlas may resemble the human form, but we are equipping the robot to move as efficiently as possible to complete a task, rather than being restricted by a human range of motion. The Atlas will move in ways that exceed human capabilities.”

Boston Dynamics also states that the robot continues the skills achieved by the previous version, such as lifting and maneuvering objects, and that its new claw variations prepare it for different types of industrial environments.

There is still no commercial launch scheduled, the new Atlas will be tested with a small group of customers “in the coming years”, starting with Hyundai's automotive factories, which acquired Boston Dynamics in 2021.

All New Atlas | Boston Dynamics

Inevitable future

The race for the humanoid robot market has been intensifying with the rapid entry of new competitors. Just last month, the Chinese company Unitree announced a robot that, according to it, broke a speed record in a foot race. The Israeli company Mentee Robotics presented a model aimed at domestic environments equipped with artificial intelligence created in less than two years.

Not even Apple should be left out of the segment: after giving up its autonomous car project, the American giant is preparing to invest in the robotics sector, internally testing different types of robots for the domestic environment.