Boston Dynamics has a long history of producing terrifying robots, and its scientists have a long history of kicking, taunting, and teasing them. That ill-advised practice continues in the company's latest video, showcasing its next generation Atlas droid, a bipedal bot capable of striding through snow, picking up boxes, opening doors, and — by the looks of things — one day murdering humans.
Atlas' gait is a bit awkward — it stumbles as it walks around the woods near Boston Dynamics' offices — but the machine is relentless, righting itself before it takes a tumble. If it does get knocked over, as it does when one of the company's scientists plants a stick in its back during the video, then it can get back up by itself. The robot's even capable of tracking boxes, bending down to collect them when they're on the floor, and repeating the process when the boxes are smacked out of its hands by its overlords. Let's hope it's not capable of tracking the faces of people that have wronged it, or else they'll be first against the wall during the robot uprising.
The Google-owned company will undoubtedly keep producing scary prototype robots, but as its scientists keep beating them up, Boston Dynamics might want to keep a better eye on their creations. The last shot of the video shows Atlas escaping through an unlocked door, perhaps to start kicking back at the people that have been kicking it."
https://www.yahoo.com/tech/boston-dynam ... 44847.html