But Boston Dynamics' bots, akin to walking or running humans, are constantly tipping, falling and regaining balance.
Boston Dynamics' latest quadruped, the LS3, aims to carry 400 pounds of materiel over 20 miles of rough terrain.
Meanwhile, Boston Dynamics and DARPA announced that their Cheetah robot can now hit 28MPH -- faster than Usain Bolt.
Boston Dynamics bad-to-the-bone (pun intended) BigDog (pictured at right) makes the list as well as Rosie from the Jetsons (circa 1962).
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It has been created by the Massachusetts robotics company Boston Dynamics and backed by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa).
Boston Dynamics will apply that same dynamic stability to Atlas, a headless humanoid that can walk on two legs, squeeze sideways through narrow spaces or crawl on its hands and feet.
In a video created by Boston Dynamics, BigDog is seen lifting a breeze block with an arm attached to where the head would go on its animal equivalent, and then throwing it backwards.
Barcelona's Mobile World Congress may have formed the backbone for this week's news but there was also notable news elsewhere -- like the fact that Boston Dynamics' upgraded quadruped robot can now throw cinder blocks.
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Boston Dynamics rose to fame with its four-legged cargo robot Big Dog, (also captured in a YouTube sensation here) which shows an uncannily life-like ability to walk over terrain and recover its footing even when it slips or is kicked.
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Festo isn't quite the household name that Boston Dynamics is. (And, really, we're not entirely sure Big Dog is a regular topic of conversation at dinner tables yet.) But, it certainly deserves just as much attention for the work they're doing with robotics.
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And they are cooperating more than before as the global marketplace changes the demand dynamics for entire industries, The Boston Consulting Group noted in their report, released on Tuesday.
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