Raibert beside one of the company’s Atlas robots during an interview and demonstration at their facilities in Waltham, Massachusetts. The company engineered the robot to be able to dance in a fluid manner that is almost human. — AP
WALTHAM, Massachusetts: The man who designed some of the world’s most advanced dynamic robots was on a daunting mission: programming his creations to dance to the beat with a mix of fluid, explosive and expressive motions that are almost human.
The results? Almost a year and half of choreography, simulation, programming and upgrades that were capped by two days of filming to produce a video running at less than three minutes. The clip, showing robots dancing to the 1962 hit Do You Love Me? by The Contours, was an instant hit on social media, attracting more than 23 million views during the first week.
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Raibert beside one of the company’s Atlas robots during an interview and demonstration at their facilities in Waltham, Massachusetts. The company engineered the robot to be able to dance in a fluid manner that is almost human. — AP
Raibert, left rear, watches one of the company’s Spot robots during a demonstration at their facilities in Waltham. — AP
The advanced Atlas robot (pic) relies on a wide array of sensors to execute the dance moves, including 28 actuators – devices that serve as muscles by converting electronic or physical signal into movement – as well as a gyroscope that helps it to balance, and three quad-core onboard computers, including one that processes perception signals and two that control movement. — AP
A Boston Dynamics Atlas robot performs a jump during a demonstration. The quality of the robots’ dancing was so good that some viewers online said they couldn’t believe their eyes. — AP
What was on display was a results of long, hard work fueled by a determination to program the robot to dance to the beat, Raibert says. — AP
Teaching robots to dance with fluid and expressive motions was a new challenge for a company that spent years building robots that have functional abilities like walking, navigating in rough terrain, pick things up with their hands and use attached advanced sensors to monitor and sense many things, Raibert says. — AP
