DARPA’s ATLAS is an impressive feat of robotics engineering, but despite representing the bleeding edge of automatons, it’s slow and clumsy when it comes to doing anything on its own.
A better way to make a robot as skilled as a human is to simply put a human in complete control of it, manipulating it remotely like a puppet from a safe distance. That’s what RE2 Robotics thinks is the best approach, and watching the robot arms it developed make a balloon animal is pretty convincing.
The Highly Dexterous Manipulation System — or HDMS for short — that RE2 developed has other advantages besides impressive dexterity. Were you to find yourself in a situation where a robot like ATLAS were to fall on you, it would not be a pleasant experience. But The HDMS is actually half the weight of most robotic torsos, while still doubling the strength of its human operator.