From teleoperation to autonomy: Inside Boston Dynamics' Atlas training

In Episode 212 of The Robot Report Podcast, Boston Dynamics’ VP of robotics research, Scott Kuindersma, discussed the development of large behavior models (LBMs) for the Atlas humanoid robot. The team collected 20 hours of teleoperation data to train these LBMs, which enable Atlas to generalize manipulation tasks such as bi-manual operations, including picking and placing parts for the Spot quadruped robot. The development process involved data collection, annotation, model training, and evaluation, with a strong emphasis on combining simulation data and human demonstration data. Boston Dynamics plans to further test Atlas in Hyundai facilities and leverage AI-driven advancements to improve humanoid manipulation and dynamic behaviors. The episode also covered recent robotics industry news, including Serve Robotics’ acquisition of Voysys’ assets to enhance its autonomous delivery fleet with low-latency video streaming for remote monitoring and teleoperation. Zoox, an Amazon subsidiary, launched a free robotaxi service on the Las Vegas Strip, with plans to expand testing