Boston Dynamics' Robot Went From a Drunk Baby To a Nimble Ninja in a Matter of Years (qz.com)

In a new video from robotics company Boston Dynamics, which Alphabet sold to SoftBank last year, a robot is shown hopping over a log and then up a series of blocks, an activity called parkour. From a report: In previous videos, the robot did a backflip -- now it's leaping over obstacles and climbing up large, uneven stairs with fleet-footed ease. But Atlas wasn't always so graceful. In some of the first videos where Boston Dynamics' robots could walk upright, way back in 2015, Atlas lumbered through the woods, looking like it was narrowly avoiding falling with each step, rather than moving with any kind of purpose.

Comments

Re:Come on - that is not Ninja (or parkour)

[rmdingler]

I wish people would stop building things that are going to wind up being used to control or kill us all.

Depressingly unlikely. At first, they will be heralded as important for dirty jobs no human wants to do: rescue operations in hazardous conditions like natural disasters or nuclear malfunctions.

Once the battery/power problem is solved, these machines will be misused... it's a facet of human nature.