Boston Dynamics is no complete stranger to the spotlight.
Its Atlas humanoid and Spot quadruped robots have actually become international phenomena thanks to viral videos showcasing their dexterity, stability, and, naturally, dancing.Earlier this year, the business took things to a new level.
It had 5 Spot robots perform a live, choreographed dance routine on NBC’& rsquo; s America & rsquo; s Got Talent (AGT), among the most significant phases in entertainment.
The legged robots performed a synchronized dance to Queen’& rsquo; s & ldquo; Don & rsquo; t Stop Me Now, & rdquo; and the robot arm on “each robotic was” used to & ldquo; lip-sync & rdquo; to Freddie Mercury & rsquo; s — vocals.All 4 AGT judges-- Simon Cowell, Mel B, Howie Mandel and Sofia Vergara —-- voted “& ldquo; yes & rdquo; for Spot to carry on to the next round of the competitors.
What appeared to the typical audience as a fun robotics demonstration was likewise a technical tension test for Spot and Boston Dynamics’ & rsquo; robotics engineers behind the scenes.“& ldquo; After 20 years, how can we see something we’& rsquo; ve never seen on this stage? & rdquo; Mandel asked throughout his post-performance commentary.
“& ldquo; This is something we’& rsquo; ve never seen on this phase.
& rdquo; & ldquo; It & rsquo; s kind of blown my mind a little bit.
I’& rsquo; ve never ever seen anything like this before,” & rdquo; said Mel B as one robotic shook hands with AGT host Terry Crews.
“& ldquo; I wish to thank you for bringing this to the stage.”& rdquo; You can watch Spot & rsquo; s efficiency in the video atop this page.Why bring Spot to AGT?The concept to carry out on AGT had been brewing for years, said Nikolas Noel, vice president of marketing and interactions at Boston Dynamics.
It wasn’& rsquo; t up until 2024 & rsquo; s Calgary Stampede, where Spot carried out live for 14 consecutive nights, that Boston Dynamics felt confident that it could take on the technical and logistical hurdles of a performance on AGT.“ & ldquo; Videos are something,” & rdquo; said Merry Frayne, director of Spot product management, who appeared on stage at AGT with the robotics.
“& ldquo; But doing this live, with millions watching, that’& rsquo; s an entire various level of stress on the robotic and the team.”& rdquo; The efficiency involved both self-governing and teleoperated components.
Throughout the main routine, the robotics danced autonomously utilizing pre-scripted series developed in Boston Dynamics’ & rsquo; exclusive choreography software.
As soon as the routine ended, human operators backstage took control of private Spots to interact with the judges and team.“& ldquo; The moves in these dances are more aggressive than what the majority of our customers put Spot through,” & rdquo; Frayne kept in mind.
& ldquo; From a robotics standpoint,’it & rsquo; s one of the very best tension tests we can run.”& rdquo; Boston Dynamics & rsquo; Merry Frayne on a current episode of NBC & rsquo; s America & rsquo; s Got Talent.The choreography pushed the limitations of Spot’& rsquo; s abilities: high-speed spins, one-legged balancing, and collaborated group maneuvers.
Behind the scenes, current advances in support knowing and vibrant behavior modeling provided Spot a more robust suite of reactions, consisting of much better obstacle avoidance and fall recovery.Frayne kept in mind that these aggressive motion abilities established for performances like AGT equate into real-world applications.
“& ldquo; We & rsquo; ve seen these improvements pay off in environments like chocolate factories with slippery floorings, where maintaining balance is crucial,” & rdquo; she said.The show must go onDespite substantial rehearsals —-- over 100 of them —-- one Spot robot malfunctioned mid-routine due to an unusual hardware fault.
What might have been a catastrophe became a moment of authenticity and strength.“& ldquo; The robot wasn & rsquo; t supposed to fall, & rdquo; Frayne said.
& ldquo; But it was a coincidence that it took place just as I was describing our motto: ‘& lsquo; construct it, break it,’” fix it.
& rsquo; & rdquo; The judges and audience welcomed the imperfection, and the team chose not to abort the rest of the regimen.“& ldquo; Backstage, we had possibly 5 seconds of panic,” & rdquo; said Noel.
& ldquo; We had a kill switch ready to stop all the robotics if needed, but based upon how we’& rsquo;d spaced the robots out, we knew the others might keep going securely.
So we made the call: Let it ride.” & rdquo; That spacing was no mishap.
The robot formations were developed with numerous feet of clearance to avoid collisions if a robot were to fail mid-performance.
That spacing likewise took into consideration arm movement and vibrant balance requirements.Changing public understanding, inspiring the futureFor Boston Dynamics, AGT wasn’& rsquo; t just a chance to demo its technical chops.
It was a platform to reshape public perception.
Robotics is still frequently framed by dystopian fiction, said Noel.
“& ldquo; We want people to see Spot and believe ‘& lsquo; helpful tool, & rsquo; not & lsquo;”Hollywood bad guy.
& rsquo; & rdquo; The group likewise sees performances like these as a method to influence the next generation of engineers and roboticists.
“& ldquo; If one kid watches this and gets thinking about robotics, it’& rsquo; s worth it, & rdquo; said Frayne, who enjoyed the episode with her own daughter.At press time, Boston Dynamics was waiting to hear whether Spot will in fact advance to the next round of America’& rsquo; s Got Talent.
If Spot does return, audiences can anticipate an even more sophisticated routine, perhaps with never-before-seen habits.“& ldquo; We & rsquo; re not just building robotics that can do the task,” & rdquo; stated Frayne.
& ldquo; We & rsquo; re structure robotics that can do the task with character.”& rdquo; Save now with early riser discountThe post NBC’& rsquo; s AGT pushes Spot to carry out under pressure appeared first on The Robot Report.