Boston Dynamics built a robot that makes Amazon's warehouse bots look primitive
- US engineering and robotics firm Boston Dynamics posted a video on Thursday of its latest autonomous robot for use in warehouses.
- In the video, the robot glides across the floor and places pallets in neat stacks using a suction mechanism.
- Footage of another Boston Dynamics robot dancing to the Bruno Mars hit "Uptown Funk" went viral in October 2018.
US engineering and robotics firm Boston Dynamics unveiled its latest creation on Thursday: A smooth-moving robot designed for use in warehouses and factories.
The robot, called Handle, specialises in handling and placing pallet-based boxes with a combination of speed and precision. It uses an onboard vision system to track specific pallets, as well as specific boxes, of up to 15 kilograms in weight.
Once it has selected a box, it deploys a series of suction pads to grasp and manipulate it before placing it neatly in the desired location using a force control system. Boston Dynamics' video showcases its ability to detect and place boxes onto moving conveyor belts.
Handle remains a prototype for now, but the company could showcase the robot at a logistics show next month, suggesting it could have commercial potential. It's a long way off Amazon's warehouse robots, which are fully deployed internationally, but has the potential to make them look primitive one day.
Read more: Boston Dynamics' humanoid robot can now jump up stairs like a parkour pro
Boston Dynamics is well-known for pushing the boundaries of robotics tech, with several videos of its creations going viral on the web. A favourite is dog-like robot SpotMini, which can autonomously navigate various environments including cluttered offices and narrow staircases.
A video of SpotMini dancing to Bruno Mars's "Uptown Funk" went viral in October 2018.
Boston Dynamics, which was founded in 1992, has raised $37 million of funding to date, according to Crunchbase. In June 2017, SoftBank acquired the company from Alphabet for an undisclosed sum.