Boston Dynamics’ Atlas model has been making strides for years. Since 2016, videos of the humanoid robot doing incredible things have gone viral, with the most recent one being a video of two Atlas robots effortlessly completing a parkour course.
According to the company, the routine took months to develop and helped to test the robot’s ability to keep its balance while coordinating actions. There is still a ton of work to be done, however, as the vault section of the course currently has a 50% chance of failure, and every step the robot takes has a slight chance of failing as well.
Boston Dynamics’ aim is that this parkour practice will lead to better-designed robots that can handle tasks with human-like dexterity. But, right now, they are not in commercial production like their other model, Spot, the robot dog.
As these robots become more advanced, it is only a matter of time before they are put into use in consumers’ lives. The Boston Dynamics company website states that their “mission is to imagine and create exceptional robots that enrich people’s lives.”
Spot has already been used in a variety of ways, but mainly by corporations and the government. Companies Skarv and SpaceX have used Spot to help with inspection tasks at their locations, but the robot’s most controversial use came from its use by the New York City Police Department.
In 2017, Netflix’s original show “Black Mirror” had an episode that depicted a dystopian military state where robot dogs inspired by Spot are used to enforce the law. In 2020, the New York Police Department announced that they would be using a Spot robot named “Digidog” in a variety of ways on the police force.
Officers were convinced that Digidog had a bright future in the NYPD, being used to navigate areas that were dangerous for officers to get into themselves, sending food to hostages, communicating with suspects and eventually opening doors.
In an interview with WABC-TV in December of 2020, NYPD Technical Assistance Response Unit Inspector Frank Digiacomo said, “This dog is going to save lives, protect people, and protect officers and that’s our goal.”
However, citizens of New York City were less optimistic about the robot and found it to be unnerving. And after public outcry, Digidog was decommissioned in April.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, on Twitter in February, called Digidog a “robotic surveillance ground drone” and praised activists who fought against the use of the robot.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said he was “glad the Digidog was put down,” a mayoral spokesperson told WABC-TV. “It’s creepy, alienating, and sends the wrong message to New Yorkers.”
Other Boston Dynamics models have been designed solely for military use, such as BigDog, which was meant to carry things for soldiers and accompany them in terrain that vehicles could not navigate, and LS3, a more refined version of BigDog.
Most Boston Dynamics models have been used for research purposes, such as PETMAN, a bipedal robot made for testing chemical protection suits, and Handle, a research robot with two legs on wheels and two hands for carrying objects.
Currently, it costs around $75,000 to buy a Spot robot, so it is unlikely that these robots will be used in homes anytime soon. For now, only corporations and governments will get to enjoy the labors of these machines, and it will be interesting to see how they are used in the future.
