Boston Dynamics retires the hydraulic Atlas, unveils an all-electric successor pitched as Hyundai's bet on commercial humanoids
Source: Boston Dynamics
Boston Dynamics retired its hydraulic Atlas on April 16, 2024, and the following day unveiled an all-electric successor pitched as Hyundai Motor Group's commercial humanoid bet, with deployment targets at Hyundai's Robotics Metaplant Application Center and a co-development relationship with Google DeepMind. The new platform uses custom high-power actuators (planetary roller screws, high-density neodymium magnets) that match the prior hydraulic force density without the fluid maintenance, and Boston Dynamics framed the design as a "research first" to "product first" strategic shift after a decade-plus of hydraulic Atlas demonstration footage that established the company as the engineering reference point in dynamic humanoid motion.