Boston Dynamics and the Toyota Research Institute (TRI) have announced a strategic research partnership aimed at accelerating the development of general-purpose humanoid robots. The collaboration will leverage TRI’s Large Behavior Models (LBMs) alongside Boston Dynamics’ Atlas humanoid robot.
The initiative will be co-led by Scott Kuindersma, Senior Director of Robotics Research at Boston Dynamics, and Russ Tedrake, Vice President of Robotics Research at TRI.
According to Boston Dynamics, the project will utilize the Atlas robot’s physical capabilities, programming, and teleoperation features to perform a variety of tasks. The data collected from these tasks will inform the training of advanced LBMs, demonstrating that “large, pre-trained models can enable the rapid acquisition of new robust, dexterous, whole-body skills.”
In addition to performance enhancement, the partnership aims to address key training questions related to humanoid robots, including the integration of whole-body sensing and the intricacies of human-robot interaction. The research will also prioritize safety and assurance measures to support these new capabilities.
“There has never been a more exciting time for the robotics industry, and we look forward to working with TRI to accelerate the development of general-purpose humanoids,” stated Robert Playter, CEO of Boston Dynamics. “This partnership exemplifies how two research-and-development-driven companies can collaborate to tackle complex challenges and create practical robots that address real-world problems.”
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