Milestones
- Hydraulic Atlas unveiled (DARPA Robotics Challenge era)Jul 2013Complete.
- Hydraulic Atlas retired; electric Atlas revealed17 Apr 2024Complete.
- Research partnership with Toyota Research InstituteOct 2024Complete.
- Production Atlas unveiled at CES; DeepMind partnership5 Jan 2026Complete.
- First fleets to Hyundai RMAC and Google DeepMindTarget 2026Current milestone.
- Atlas parts sequencing at Hyundai Metaplant AmericaTarget 2028Not yet reached.
Most important updates
- 18d ago
- May 2026
- 5 Jan 2026
- 20 Aug 2025
- 17 Apr 2024
Upcoming
- 2026First fleets to Hyundai RMAC and Google DeepMind (next)
- 2027Atlas training center at Metaplant America moves to a building about 10 times larger
- 2028Atlas parts sequencing at Hyundai Metaplant America
- 2029Hyundai plans Atlas deployment at Kia's Georgia plant
Current obstacles
- Manufacturing at volumeHyundai's 30,000-robots-a-year factory needs cost and yield levels no humanoid maker has shown yet.
- One AI for every taskEvery factory station and part is different. One AI that handles them all reliably is unsolved.
Physics limits
- A 90 kg robot stores a lot of energy when it movesKinetic energy grows with mass and the square of speed. A heavy humanoid that trips or swings an arm can hurt people, so speed near workers is limited and falls must be survivable.
- Motor heat limits continuous liftingHeating in motor windings rises with the square of current, so Atlas can lift near its 50 kg rating only briefly. Long shifts at high load need bigger motors or rest breaks.
- Batteries hold far less energy than fuelLithium-ion cells store about 250 Wh per kg, roughly 50 times less than petrol. Self-swapping packs keep Atlas working, but each pack still lasts only hours.
How it works
Body
Electric joints that spin fully
Custom electric motors let hips, torso and wrists turn beyond human range, so Atlas turns in place instead of stepping around.
Brain
Learned skills on classic control
Physics-based control keeps it upright. Learned AI (with TRI and DeepMind's Gemini Robotics) handles seeing and grasping.
Power
Self-swapping batteries
Atlas swaps its own batteries, so a roughly 4-hour charge doesn't limit its shift.
Spec sheet
| Spec | Atlas |
|---|---|
| Height | 1.9 mR (reported) |
| Weight | 90 kgR (reported) |
| Degrees of freedom | 56R (reported) |
| Lift capacity | 50 kgR (reported) |
| Reach | 2.3 mR (reported) |
| Battery | ~4 h, self-swappableR (reported) |
R reported by the company
Peer comparison
| Spec | Atlas | Unitree Robotics G1 |
|---|---|---|
| Height | 1.9 mR (reported) | ~1.3 mR (reported) |
| Weight | 90 kgR (reported) | ~35 kgR (reported) |
R reported by the company
Papers & demos
- 5 Jan 2026demoProduction Atlas unveiled at CES 2026 (opens bostondynamics.com)First product version of Atlas, with specs and customers named.
- Aug 2025demoLarge behaviour model controls Atlas (with Toyota Research Institute) (opens bostondynamics.com)One AI, steered by spoken instructions, did long whole-body handling tasks on Atlas.
- 17 Apr 2024demoAll-new electric Atlas revealed (opens bostondynamics.com)Showed the switch from hydraulic to electric motors, with joints that spin all the way round.
Update log
Tue 22 Sep
- Minor: PressCommercial
May 2026
- Major: PressCommercial
Mon 5 Jan
- Major: PressHardware
Wed 20 Aug 2025
- Minor: PressResearch
Oct 2024
- Minor: PressPartnership
Wed 17 Apr 2024
- Major: BlogHardware
About Boston Dynamics
Boston Dynamics
Atlas humanoid, Spot robot dog, Stretch
Boston Dynamics, founded in 1992 by Marc Raibert, pioneered robots that walk and balance. Owned by Hyundai since 2021, it sells Spot and Stretch and began building its electric Atlas humanoid in 2026.
- Production Atlas (CES, Jan 2026): fully electric, 56 degrees of freedom, lifts 50 kg, swaps its own batteries.
- Hyundai is the main customer and plans a factory able to build 30,000 robots a year.
- Spot and Stretch bring real revenue and field data that most humanoid startups lack.
bostondynamics.com (opens bostondynamics.com)Company profile →
- Founded
- 199234 yrs
- Headquarters
- United States
- Status
- Subsidiaryof Hyundai Motor Group
- Valuation
- $21BHyundai Motor Group-ownedMar 2026estimate
- Works in
- RoboticsHumanoids
- Coverage
- 3 programs · 18 updateslatest 18d agochecked 25 Sep
- People
- Marc Raibert (opens en.wikipedia.org)FounderRobert PlayterCEO