There is no stranger for Boston Dynamics Spotlight. Its Atlas humoid And the spot quadruple robots have become a global event, thanks to the viral videos, their agility, stability and of course, displaying the dance.

Earlier this year, Company Took things to a new level. It performed a live, choreographed dance routine on the five spot robots NBC America’s Got Talent (AGT), one of the largest stages in entertainment. Legged robot A synchronized dance for Queen’s “Dont Stop Me Now”, and the robot arm on each robot was used for “lip-skin” for Freddy Mercury vocals.

All four Agate Judge – Simon Cowell, Mail B, Hovi Mandel and Sophia Vergara – voted for “yes” for the spot to go to the next round of the competition. What the average viewer appeared as a fun robotics demo was also a technical stress test for robotics engineers of Spot and Boston Dynamics.

“After 20 years, how can we see something that we have never seen at this level?” Mandel asked during his performance remarks. “This is something that we have never seen at this level.”

“This has blown my mind a little. I have never seen anything before,” Mail be shook hands with a robot Agate Host Terry Crew. “I want to thank you for bringing it on stage.”

You can see the performance of the spot in the video above this page.

Why bring spots for an out?

The idea of ​​performing on Agate Nicholas Noel, Vice President of Marketing and Communications at Boston Dynamics, said, “had been drinking alcohol for years.” But it was not up to the 2024 Calgary Stamped, where the spot performed live for 14 consecutive nights, that Boston Dynamics felt confident that it could deal with the technical and logical obstacles of a performance. Agate,

“Video is one thing,” said Mary Fryne, director of spot product management, said, who appeared on the stage Agate With robot. “But doing such live, with millions of people watching, this is a different level of stress on the robot and team.”

The performance consisted of both autonomous and remote components. During the main routine, the robot danced autonomous using pre-scripted scenes created in ownership choreography software of Boston Dynamics. Once the routine was finished, human operators controlled individual locations to interact with judges and crews to the backstage.

“The tricks in these dances are more aggressive than most of our customers,” Fryne said. “From a robotics point of view, it is one of the best stress tests we can run.”

Choreography pushed the limitations of the spots of the spot: high-speed spin, one-foot balance, and coordinated group exercises. Behind the curtain, recent progress in reinforcement learning and dynamic behavior modeling gave a more strong suit of reactions, including better obstruction and recovery of fall.

Frayne said that these aggressive movement capabilities developed for performing such as Agate Translate into real world applications. “We have seen that these reforms have been paid in the atmosphere such as chocolate factories with slippery floors, where it is important to maintain balance,” he said.

Program should keep running

Despite the comprehensive rehearsal-more than 100 of them-a rare hardware failed to make the mid-Rutin due to a rare hardware mistake. What can be a disaster turned into a moment of authenticity and flexibility.

“The robot was not to fall,” Fryne said. “But it was a coincidence that it happened exactly as I was explaining our motto: ‘Make it, break it, fix it.” “Judges and spectators adopted imperfection, and the team decided not to end the rest of the routine.

“Backstage, we probably had five seconds nervousness,” Noel said. “We were ready to stop all robots, if needed, but on the basis of how we push the robot out, we knew that other people could go safely. So we called: Let it ride it.”

That vacancy was not an accident. Robot structures were designed with several feet withdrawals to avoid collision if a robot had to fail in mid -performance. That vacancy also took into consideration the speed of the hand and the dynamic balance requirements.

Change public perception, motivate the future

For Boston’s mobility, Agate There was no opportunity to demo only your technical chops. It was a platform to reopen public perception. Noel said robotics are still implicated by dystopian fiction. “We want people to see the spot and think that ‘useful equipment,’ not Hollywood villains.”

The team has also seen such a performance as a way to motivate the next generation engineers and robotists. “If a child sees it and is interested in robotics, it is worth it,” Fryne said, who saw the episode with his own daughter.

At the press time, Boston Dynamics waited to hear whether the spot would actually move forward in the next round America’s Got TalentIf the spot returns, the audience can expect an even more sophisticated routine, possibly never seen before.

“We are not only building robots that can work,” Fryne said. “We are building robots that can work with the character.”