Boston Dynamics Founded

Marc Raibert (b. 1949)

Boston Dynamics is a vanguard robotics company, maker of marvels such as
Atlas, the autonomous 6-foot (1.8-meter) backflipping biped humanoid, and
BigDog, a quadruped designed to function as a pack mule, capable of
traversing landscapes too rough for any wheeled vehicle while carrying 340
pounds (154 kilograms) and moving at 4 miles (6 kilometers) an hour.
Founded by Marc Raibert, a former professor at both Carnegie Mellon and MIT,
Boston Dynamics started as a spinoff from MIT. Much of Boston Dynamics’
early funding came from the US military, which wanted to find alternative
solutions for missions that either were inherently dangerous for humans or
required superhuman strength in an environment designed for bipedal
navigation. The company also benefitted from decades of research into robotics
and embodied intelligence at both academic and industrial research
laboratories.
Notable robotic accomplishments include Cheetah, a running quadruped that
broke the 2012 robot land-speed record by clocking in at 18 miles (29
kilometers) per hour. There is also Handle, a 6.5-foot (2-meter) robot with two
legs on wheels that can jump 4 feet (1 meter) vertically, pick up and carry 100
pounds (45 kilograms), and maneuver with the balance and dexterity of both
two-legged and four-legged creatures. PETMAN, the predecessor to Atlas, was
designed to test the material effects of chemical weapons on protective safety
suits. And then there is SandFlea, an 11-pound (5-kilogram), 6-inch (15-
centimeter) -tall device on four wheels that can jump 30 feet (9 meters) in the
air and land on a ledge. It can then jump back down, surviving falls from that
proportionately great height.
In 2013, Google X (now part of Alphabet) purchased Boston Dynamics for an
unknown sum. Four years later, in 2017, Alphabet sold the company to
SoftBank®, the mammoth Japanese technology company responsible for the
creation of Pepper, a robot that can interpret and respond to a range of human
emotions. Boston Dynamics has yet to commercialize its robots.
SEE ALSO Isaac Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics (1942), Unimate: First Mass-
Produced Robot

Front view of the 6-foot (2-meter) biped humanoid robot Atlas, created by
Boston Dynamics and DARPA.