Atlas humanoid performs at World Cup before factory deployment
Boston Dynamics’ Atlas humanoid appeared at halftime of a World Cup round of 16 match at New York New Jersey Stadium in New Jersey on Sunday, where Hyundai Motor Group said the robot waved to spectators, performed soccer goal celebrations and delivered a ball to the referee.
The appearance was presented by Hyundai as the first halftime performance by a humanoid robot in World Cup tournament history, according to a UPI translation of an Asia Today report. Atlas is developed by Boston Dynamics, Hyundai Motor Group’s robotics affiliate. The source photos and captions describe Atlas performing a celebration associated with South Korean player Son Heung-min.
For humanoid robotics, the useful signal is narrower than the venue suggests. The report did not provide hardware specifications, autonomy level, reliability data or details on how much of the routine was scripted. It did cite Fortune describing next generation humanoid technology that can learn independently and adapt to different environments, compared with conventional industrial robots based mainly on programmed tasks.
Bloomberg, as cited in the report, framed the public demonstration as part of Hyundai’s robotics push ahead of planned factory deployment. That is the more consequential thread for operators to watch. A stadium routine proves less than a production task, but it gives Boston Dynamics and Hyundai a global stage for Atlas while the company prepares to test the platform against factory work.
Source: upi.com
