Boston Dynamics’ Atlas humanoid robot demonstrated a backflip in a 2017 video.
Atlas was introduced by Boston Dynamics in 2013 as a bipedal robot designed for disaster-response research. The company’s 2017 demonstration showed Atlas walking over uneven terrain, jumping onto platforms, carrying a heavy object, and completing a backflip after throwing the object aside. The performance highlighted advances in balance, perception, hydraulic actuation, and whole-body control.
Atlas is often confused with Spot, Boston Dynamics’ four-legged robot, or Handle, a wheeled bipedal logistics robot. Those machines have different body plans and intended uses. Atlas was built as a research platform for difficult human-like tasks, including locomotion, manipulation, and recovery from disturbances.
The backflip was not evidence that Atlas thought like a human; it was the result of carefully engineered control software, sensors, and mechanical systems. Still, the demonstration became one of the most recognizable milestones in modern humanoid-robot development.