Hyundai Debuts Next-Gen Atlas Robot from Boston Dynamics

I'm Zach Jacowski and I'm the VP and general manager for humanoid robots at Boston Dynamics.

>> And I'm a Durban. I lead our humanoid application product strategy at Boston Dynamics. Our vision is a humanoid that

Dynamics. Our vision is a humanoid that is general purpose that can go anywhere, understand its surroundings, and manipulate any object. We're starting in

industrial environments first. We're

building a tool that can drop into your facility as it exists today and doesn't just do one job, but is flexible enough to evolve as your business changes.

>> We've been working on humanoids for more than a decade at Boston Dynamics, always keeping a close watch on when the missing pieces of technology would fall into place to make it truly commercially

viable. The rapid advancements in AI

viable. The rapid advancements in AI over the past few years are the piece that we needed, and that moment is finally here. Now, it's time to

finally here. Now, it's time to officially take Atlas out of the lab.

So, for the first time ever in public, ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Atlas to the stage. [cheering]

[music] So, as you can see, Atlas really does stand up the way that we show in our videos online. And we get tons of

videos online. And we get tons of questions about this. Zach, while we have everyone here, do you want to provide a little bit of insight into how we made that decision?

>> I mean, it's pretty simple. [music]

Atlas doesn't have to move like a person does, and we're looking for the most stable, efficient way to get up. And it

turns out this is it.

>> The other question we get all the time is how Atlas is moving.

How is Atlas moving today?

>> So, in normal operation, Atlas is fully autonomous on a job site. But today,

Sarvesh, one of our FAEES, is piloting Atlas on the stage, giving it really simple instructions like forwards and backwards just to keep things simple.

This is Atlas's first time in public, and as you can see, its walk is pretty natural and pretty smooth. We had

partnered with our sister organization, the Robotics and AI Institute, to push the limits on natural walking just for this performance. [music] And I think

this performance. [music] And I think we've done something really special.

We've also been at this robotics thing for a while and we've learned that there's more to it than just copying nature. We can pick the best parts of

nature. We can pick the best parts of what nature has to offer and do better in others. So, as you can see, Atlas

in others. So, as you can see, Atlas here has joints that can move 360°.

[music] This lets Atlas move even more efficiently than humans, particularly in manufacturing environments where every second counts. We've also designed

second counts. We've also designed Atlas's head and face very purposefully.

We want folks working with Atlas to know that Atlas is a helpful robot, not a person.

>> Seeing Atlas live in action for the first time is wildly exciting. But

seeing it perform real industrial work is even more compelling. We recently

took this robot down to the Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America to have Atlas test in a real manufacturing facility where we performed autonomous

uh material handling tasks. We proved

that humanoids could be viable in a real world application [applause] and we collected data and learnings that we took back to Boston to make our product even better. The version of Atlas that

even better. The version of Atlas that you're seeing here is just a research prototype that we've been using for a couple years to understand the system, but we've been hard at work on making

the actual product version of Atlas. I

can confidently say that this product version of Atlas is the best and actually simplest robot that we have ever built. But rather than just talk

ever built. But rather than just talk about it, why don't we actually show you what it's going to look like?

>> [music] [applause and music] >> Now, obviously, this is a static display robot. We just couldn't pry the actual

robot. We just couldn't pry the actual production samples out of our engineers hands at the lab this week. Um, so we're going to be showing you videos of that robot in the coming weeks. This product

generation of Atlas surpasses any other enterprisegrade humanoid. This robot has

enterprisegrade humanoid. This robot has 56 degrees of freedom, mostly with fully rotational joints, and it has human scale hands with tactile sensing in the

fingers and palms for dextrous manipulation. Atlas's 360 degree cameras

manipulation. Atlas's 360 degree cameras see in all directions, so it understands when people are approaching, which is part of our holistic safety concept.

Atlas is also strong. It can lift up to 110 pounds and reach up to 7.5 ft in the air. Atlas is also water resistant. In

air. Atlas is also water resistant. In

real industrial environments, robots need to undergo washdowns, and it can operate at its full capabilities, including strength, between minus4 and

104 degrees F. It's going to be easy to teach Atlas new tasks. Most can be trained in less than a day. Atlas can

perform these tasks at a reliable, consistent pace for about 4 hours using its dual swappable batteries. And when

they run low, Atlas navigates back to its charging station and swaps its own batteries, getting right back to work.

Finally, Atlas robots share intelligence through our Orbit platform. Once one

Atlas learns a skill, it can be shared with any other Atlas.

>> These industryleading specs, along with our industryleading foundation models, allow Atlas to take on challenging tasks. tasks the Atlas will do

tasks. tasks the Atlas will do autonomously on its own from day one, assisting people and prioritizing a collaborative humanentric approach. And

as we continue to build out our general purpose technology, our customers will be able to use our orbit software to teach Atlas new and specialized skills.

Do you want to wrap us up by talking about our production and deployment plans?

>> Of course. So, we've already started production of this new robot at our Boston headquarters, and our entire 2026 supply has already been allocated to

Hyundai Motor Group and our new AI partner you'll hear about in a few minutes. We'll add more new customers in

minutes. We'll add more new customers in 2027, but for now, we're planning additional pilots at Hyundai Motor Group and building a facility that we call the

Hyundai Robotics Metal Plant Application Center. This center is the cornerstone

Center. This center is the cornerstone of our plan to build the most complete data set in the world to train humanoid skills in manufacturing, creating an

engine for deploying tens of thousands of Atlas robots across Hyundai Motor Group facilities worldwide. It's a data factory. Hyundai Motor Group isn't just

factory. Hyundai Motor Group isn't just deploying the Atlas robots either. They

are going to build them. Together, we

are building a new robotics factory capable of producing 30,000 Atlas robots a year. This is what's truly required to

a year. This is what's truly required to deliver the full promise of humanoids across the industrial, commercial, and home markets.

>> We are so excited to bring Atlas into the world.

>> They learn precision, repetition, and safety by mapping human movements into robot learning.

Every lead, turn, and recovery motion, all captured as real operational data. No company has more real world factory data than

Hyundai Motor Group because our SDM network is global and well connected.

This data creates better train, better training creates safer, smarter robot, and smarter robots create better

factories for people. Big input, great output. Our road map is clear. The ALMAC

output. Our road map is clear. The ALMAC

opens this August and creates the basis for future robot. By 2028, the Atlas global rollout begins within our SDF

network. Atlas will start to perform

network. Atlas will start to perform high precision sequencing tasks. By

2030, robots will handle complex assembly together with our robot colleagues. Work

is safer, lighter, and more meaningful.

Because our robot don't compete with humans, they compete for humans for our safety, efficiency, and well-being.

This is the Hyundai Motor Group's robotics philosophy. Robots expanding

robotics philosophy. Robots expanding human reach and partnering for human progress.