Its head includes cameras and LIDAR similar to NASA’s Valkyrie. Unlike most of the other robots they’ve designed this one walks bipedally leaving its upper limbs available to do other work, like lift, climb, and manipulate tools. So let’s see what we’re up against.Ītlas is one of BD’s anthropomorphic robots, based on human anatomy and built to do things that humans can do but bigger, better, stronger. After seeing these robots it’s easy to start imagining a dystopian future where Google has become Skynet and we’re being pursued by advanced robotic opponents. So what is Google up to? They’ve been pretty quiet about their intentions but they have already proven themselves in regard to software, acquiring some impressive hardware makes them a force to be reckoned with.

Google has swept up a number of robotics companies lately for their “moonshot” robotics division but BD is certainly the best card in their hand. Recently Boston Dynamics was acquired by Google. Atlas and Petman are anthropomorphic, while others are based on dogs, cheetahs, and fleas. BD has used biological models to build these fantastic monstrosities. Boston Dynamics is a heavy hitter in the world of robotics, they’ve received DARPA funding (you’ll remember them as hosting the robotics challenge that gave us NASA’s Valkyrie) and have used it to build some pretty serious, pretty awesome, and in at least one case, pretty terrifying robots. Have you seen their robots? They are incredible, and they don’t have just one, they have an array. So amazing in fact that we’re drowning in information and something as awesome as what Boston Dynamics is doing can go largely unnoticed.

3D printers are being used to make everything from everyday objects to working organs. We sent a craft (Voyager) into deep space, we’re making discoveries across the universe daily. The phone you likely have in your pocket has more computing power than the entirety of ground control for the Apollo missions. As a species we’ve walked on the moon, sent remote control cars to Mars, have instant global communication with video capability, touchscreen devices attached to the collective information of the world, and more. We truly are living in the future, while we may not have perfected hoverboards or flying cars (yet) there are a great many things we take for granted that are truly amazing.

Red shiny robots of vortis