technology
Humanoid robot delivers match ball at World Cup halftime
A five-foot humanoid robot named Atlas walked onto the pitch at New York/New Jersey Stadium during the Brazil versus Norway Round of 16 match and handed the ball to the referee. The appearance marked the first time a robot performed the task at a FIFA World Cup match.
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The robot performed goal celebrations modeled on professional players before completing the handoff in front of 80,000 spectators.
Robot specifications and training Atlas is a fifth-generation humanoid robot built by Boston Dynamics with 56 degrees of freedom, a 2.3-meter reach, and the ability to lift up to 110 pounds. It can swap its own batteries without stopping work. The robot is trained rather than programmed.
Engineers showed it footage of professional players and motion-capture recordings of human demonstrations, then ran millions of simulated repetitions on cloud GPUs to develop adaptive behaviors.
Company background Hyundai Motor Company owns Boston Dynamics and has sponsored FIFA for 27 years. The company has committed to a $26 billion investment in the United States over four years, including a robotics manufacturing facility near Savannah, Georgia, planned to produce 30,000 Atlas units annually by 2028.
Atlas is being tested in Hyundai factory settings for part sequencing in automotive manufacturing.
