Boston Dynamics' New Electric Atlas vs. Tesla's Optimus
Tech
Speaker 1: There's a new humanoid robot in town and it moves like a contortionist robocop. Today we're going to take a look at Boston Dynamics Next Generation Atlas Robot and see how it compares to Tesla's, Optimus. Let's get into it. Boston Dynamics. New Atlas Humanoid robot emerges just as the company retires its original Atlas now called HD Atlas. The new Atlas is fully electric. A departure from the hydraulics that powered HD Atlas. Boston Dynamics has also introduced some new features, most notably, the ability [00:00:30] to move in superhuman ways. Boston Dynamics says it made this new atlas to be stronger, more dexterous, and more agile. Will the new Atlas compete with its fellow humanoid robots like the Tesla bot and digit from Agility robotics in doing warehouse work, or is it aiming to play a different role in their press release? Boston Dynamics gave some hints. New grippers are in development that could serve a variety of functions and the new design signals the company's move toward commercialization.
Speaker 1: [00:01:00] The classic version of Atlas has become internet famous through a series of videos showing it dancing, flipping, doing parkour, and taking one heck of a beating. Not to be outdone. Elon also chose dancing as a method for introducing Tesla's humanoid robot. Unlike the Tesla bot, which has had commercialization as its end goal from the start, HD Atlas was more of a research platform for exploring movement, testing, robustness, and possible use cases. Much of the testing footage [00:01:30] we've seen from these companies reflects that. For example, Tesla bot is often shown performing various types of labor with the occasional yoga pose thrown in. Whereas Boston Dynamics promotional videos for HD Atlas tended to focus on the robot's capabilities with the occasional work task thrown in. That being said, Boston Dynamics is certainly no newcomer to the commercial robotics field spot. Its surveillance patrol and monitoring robot has been in use doing site inspections at various facilities for several years and has even been [00:02:00] put to use by a handful of police departments around the country.
Speaker 1: Let me know how you feel about that. Down in the comments stretch. Another Boston Dynamics robot has been specifically made for warehouse work. Boston Dynamics seems to be positioning the new Atlas as something that can be used alongside spot and stretch in warehouse settings. SPOT can monitor, map and gather data. Stretch can move large objects, and Atlas can do what Atlas does. Both Tesla and Boston Dynamics have strikingly similar visions for how and where their robots will be put to [00:02:30] use. Tesla says Optimus is made for tasks that are unsafe, repetitive, or boring, and Boston Dynamics says its Atlas is made for tasks that are dull, dirty, and dangerous. This rolls into the overarching industry-wide sales pitch that says, robots aren't here to take your jobs. They're here to augment people or to do the jobs that most people don't want. How that plays out in reality remains to be seen. Boston Dynamics hasn't yet released the full specs of its new Atlas Robot,
Speaker 2: So we can't get [00:03:00] into a lot of the nitty gritty details, so I'll have to save that for another video. Please subscribe if you don't want to miss it. What do you think of the humanoid robots? Let us know down in the comments. As always, thanks so much for watching. I'm your host, Jesse Orle. See you next time with the fam.
