DARPA’s government-issued robot goes for a stroll

With a name that evokes Mechwarrior and a body that evokes the Terminator, rescue might not be the first thing you think about when you see ATLAS, a robot recently unveiled by DARPA and its regular robotics contractor, Boston Dynamics. But rescue and recovery efforts are exactly what DARPA has in mind. Inspired in part by the inability to send people in to some of the areas that required attention at Fukushima, DARPA has launched a robotics challenge that will see teams compete to build a humanoid robot that can drive vehicles, use tools, and generally interact with the human-centric material that often needs to be manipulated in the wake of disasters.

Several companies and universities will build their own robots to compete in the competition. Others will simply focus on building control software to run a standard, government-issued robot provided by Boston Dynamics. Last week, Boston Dynamics unveiled this default robot, called ATLAS.

The above video takes you through a bit of the project's history (and comes with a truly atrocious soundtrack—we recommend watching it muted) and, about a minute in, you get some good footage of ATLAS as it avoids stepping on obstacles, tests its hands, and regains its balance after being hit by a miniature wrecking ball. For those of you having visions of a Terminator, the video also clearly shows that ATLAS requires a hefty power and control cable to do its thing.