Atlas Gets Scooter Feet

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The story, straight

A robot can practise movements in a computer before trying them on a real floor. But if its simulated motors can do things its actual motors cannot, practice teaches the wrong lesson.

Physics does not accept your demo reel.

Boston Dynamics swapped Atlas's feet for scooter wheels to explore that gap. A custom adapter connects an off-the-shelf scooter rim to the existing ankle motor.

That adapter is the only new part. In software, each wheel becomes an ankle that can spin continuously.

Starts, turns and stops push the motors across demanding combinations of turning force and speed. The team measures how the real motors behave and adjusts the simulation so the robot learns against realistic limits.

The result looks like a warehouse audition for Tokyo Drift. Lil'meme brought a stopwatch and immediately reconsidered his career as a crash barrier.

The spectacle is not the product: Boston Dynamics explicitly calls this wheeled Atlas a research testbed. The useful part is less cinematic.

Insights are already being adapted back to Atlas on feet.

Enjoy the moves. Just don't mistake a spectacular clip for a reliability score.

Source: https://bostondynamics.com/blog/atlas-on-a-roll/

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