Meet your new acrobat, the ATLAS robot

As ATLAS proved in a Boston Dynamics YouTube video, we may see a totally automated Cirque Du Soleil show within the coming decades.
-
In this week in robots, we’ve seen great examples of their success with grocery shopping, playing soccer and *ahem* getting freaky with humans. But there’s one robot which stole their thunder, Boston Dynamics’ ATLAS robot which can perform a perfect backflip. Though studies pronounce the dire news that automation will end up taking nearly half of all current jobs, we haven’t seen “circus acrobat” as one of them. As ATLAS proved in a Boston Dynamics YouTube video, we may see a totally automated Cirque Du Soleil show within the coming decades. Even as we laughed at a video of ATLAS hilariously failing a simple shelf-stacking task earlier this year, executing a backflip is an impressive and somewhat scary feat. It wasn’t so long ago ATLAS was gingerly walking over a debris field and we can’t wait to see what ATLAS can do next. These robots, they grow up so fast! Join the Conversation: What do you think about ATLAS’ latest trick? Share your thoughts on our Facebook page.