See Spot robots dance

Hyundai x Boston Dynamics. © Boston Dynamics.

Even after all these years, we never tire of cute (and less cute) bot videos from Boston Dynamics, the maker of Spot and Atlas robots. The most recent, aired in late June, celebrates the conclusion of its acquisition by the Korean Hyundai Motor Group. It features seven Spot robots dancing to the song “Ioniq: I’m On It” by BTS, a K-pop group also known as the Bangtan Boys. The song premiered last year in honor of Hyundai’s new line of Ioniq EV electric cars.

In a blog post, the company explains how they pulled off this long choreographed number, which requires incredibly accurate programming (rather than using the robot’s built-in sensors and obstacle avoidance algorithms that usually move the machines around to perform tasks). “Everything had to be worked out in advance and scripted precisely,” explains Eric Whitman, roboticist at Boston Dynamics. Once again, the company worked with the professional choreographer Monica Thomas with whom it collaborated on previous robot videos.

⇨ YouTube, “Spot’s On It.”

⇨ YouTube, “Hyundai x Boston Dynamics | Welcome to the Family with BTS.”

⇨ The Verge, Chaim Gartenberg, “Boston Dynamics’ Spot robot challenges BTS to a boy band dance-off in latest video.”

2021-06-29