Atlas rolls through the workshop on two wheels where its feet would normally be. Boston Dynamics’ humanoid can turn and move sideways. The trial tests how well its motors work with software that controls the whole body.
Engineer Andy Wu fitted the wheels to the existing ankle actuators using an adapter. Accelerating, steering and braking load the motors in different ways, letting the team test how reliably the controller works under demanding conditions.
The software practises in a simulation first. The simulated motors must have the same capabilities and limits as the real ones. Otherwise, the robot could learn movements its hardware cannot reproduce reliably.
For some movements the team uses recordings of people in motion. For a quick sideways move, the controller learned how to make use of the wheels. The wheeled Atlas is a research setup, and Boston Dynamics says it is applying the findings to Atlas with feet as well. Boston Dynamics
