This year Boston Dynamics plans to put his comprehensive humanoid robot Atlas atlas to work at the Hyundai factory. The modern version of the bot has evolved from the Atlas Hydraulic model, which has performed viral video versions since 2013, debuted in public last spring. But while the episode of robots and storage robots in the company is already arranged in industrial places, the Hyundai pilot will be the first time atlas in commercial production.
Boston Dynamics that was purchased by Hyundai For $ 1.1 billion in 2021, it is shy about how the robot will be used, but the general idea is that it is stronger and more reliable than a human employee. “The robot will be able to do things that are difficult for people,” says spokesman Boston Dynamics Kerri Neelon. “Like collecting very heavy objects and wearing things that are awkward for people.”
Atlas will have friends: 2025 seems to be a year in which multi -functional humanoid works are largely circumscribed to research laboratories, Go Commercial. Some have already taken the first initial steps of the robot to work, with the number of robotics agility Moving items in stock and the title two -legged figures Shipping to commercial customers last year.
Technological giants also enter this trend: both Apple AND Finish It is said that he is working on some humanoid consumer robot. Goldman Sachs 2024 report It is estimated that humanoid robots will represent the $ 38 billion market by 2035 – more than six times more than a year ago.
The basic promise of humanoid robots is that they will be able to switch between many tasks, just like their people. This is basically a different approach from the established automation of the assembly line, which builds the whole environment around specific tasks required for production. Jonathan Hurst, co -founder and director of the robot at Agility Robotics, expects his robots to sit next to this process, not disturb him.
“A specially built automation solution will always be higher and lower costs for this purpose,” says Hurst. “It’s great if you have 24/7 activities for the particular thing you want to do.” But in the case of tasks that do not have to run around the clock, a pliant robot may be more productive.
Boston Dynamics puts this different way. With factories designed as a unthreatening place for automation, the company claims that it has built an Atlas with a view to creating a robot that could go anywhere else. “We live in the human world,” says Neelon, “So we should build a robot that reflects it.”
But there are challenges related to the introduction of humanoid robots to the market. Optimus Tesla was very expected since the company announced it for the first time in 2021, but in October the demo drew concerns when the robots shown turned out to be controlled by man, raising questions about the extent to what extent Optimus could act autonomously. In JanuaryMusk said that the company was to build “several thousand” robots in 2025 – but in April he told investors Production can be influenced by restrictions on exporting occasional metal from the ground in which China implemented in response to the tariffs of President Donald Trump.