Atlas lifts tires, walks factory floor in Boston Dynamics training video

Atlas trains in real auto production environment

Hyundai Motor collaboration cuts costs 60–80%

'Return on investment within 2 years' — economics validated

US facility to produce up to 30,000 robots a year; 25,000 units planned for deployment

Atlas moves around a vehicle body at the Robotics Metaplant Application Center inside HMGMA in Georgia, performing tasks simulating real production processes. [Boston Dynamics video capture]

A humanoid robot walks up to a car on two legs. It crouches, extends both arms and hoists a wheel and tire. In another scene, it moves around a vehicle with its hood open. In yet another, it works side by side with a second Atlas unit next to a car. Workers in safety vests watch the robot's every move from close range.

Boston Dynamics released a documentary co-produced with Hyundai Motor Group and Bloomberg Media Studios on Wednesday titled "Robotics Race: At the Frontier."

The film captures Atlas — once known for wowing audiences with backflips — now undergoing hands-on training to become a "new hire" on an automotive factory floor.

Atlas's training ground is the Robotics Metaplant Application Center, or RMAC, located inside HMGMA in Georgia. The RMAC, which began operation last month, serves as a testbed where Atlas learns manufacturing tasks and has its performance validated before deployment in actual vehicle production environments.

Boston Dynamics' humanoid robot Atlas lifts and moves a vehicle wheel and tire at the Robotics Metaplant Application Center inside HMGMA in Georgia. [Boston Dynamics video capture]

The documentary offers a detailed look inside the RMAC. Tall parts shelves, vehicle bodies, workbenches and safety fences are arranged to replicate an actual factory, while researchers monitor Atlas's movements on laptops and screens. The robot moves through the workspace picking up and relocating parts, repeatedly practicing the motions required for manufacturing tasks around vehicles.

Particularly notable is footage of Atlas lifting and carrying a vehicle wheel and tire with both hands — training that goes beyond simple walking or object grasping to encompass the kind of heavy-load work humans have traditionally handled on factory floors. Scenes also show multiple Atlas units moving simultaneously alongside a vehicle.

Boston Dynamics cited the automotive industry's high standards for safety, security and reliability as the reason it chose the sector as its first application area. The company said validating Atlas's performance in automotive manufacturing would establish its credibility as an industrial robot.

"Atlas was specifically designed for industrial work," Boston Dynamics said. "It can lift heavy objects and operate in extremely hot and harsh environments."

The interior of the Robotics Metaplant Application Center inside HMGMA in Georgia, where Atlas undergoes task training and performance validation ahead of deployment in real automotive manufacturing environments. [Boston Dynamics video capture]

Boston Dynamics also outlined plans to expand Atlas's applications beyond automotive manufacturing into food and beverage production and semiconductor fabrication.

The way Atlas learns has also changed. Rather than programming each movement individually as before, the robot now learns tasks through AI. Atlas draws on two capabilities in tandem: "physical intelligence," which governs balance and object manipulation, and "reasoning intelligence," which handles complex instructions and situational judgment.

Data is another key to commercialization. "Physical AI is similar to an LLM — the more data you have, the better the robot performs," Boston Dynamics said. "The problem is that data doesn't exist yet, which is why Atlas needs to get out of the lab."

Multiple Atlas units practice manufacturing tasks — picking up and moving parts — at workbenches inside the Robotics Metaplant Application Center at HMGMA in Georgia. [Boston Dynamics video capture]

That is precisely why Atlas repeatedly picks up and moves automotive parts at the RMAC — accumulating the real-world manufacturing data needed to improve task accuracy and broaden its operational range.

The documentary also addresses the economics of turning a laboratory prototype into a product ready for actual industrial deployment.

Two Atlas units are positioned on either side of a vehicle body at the Robotics Metaplant Application Center inside HMGMA in Georgia, performing parts-handling tasks. Boston Dynamics is validating Atlas's safety and reliability in an environment that closely mirrors real manufacturing conditions. [Boston Dynamics video capture]

Boston Dynamics stressed the importance of its collaboration with Hyundai Motor Group, saying that "even the best product cannot hit target costs without a supply chain and partner ecosystem to back it up." The company said working with Hyundai Motor Group cut costs by 60 to 80 percent from the prototype stage to initial mass production, crediting the group's manufacturing and supply chain infrastructure for significantly reducing the resources required to bring Atlas to mass production.

Hyundai Motor Group's large-scale production plans further underpin that economic case. The group is building a facility in the United States capable of producing up to 30,000 robots a year and plans to deploy 25,000 Atlas units across its global operations.

"Scale certainty is one of the key factors in building a successful supply chain," Boston Dynamics said, adding that Hyundai Motor Group's stable manufacturing and supply chain base has helped bring down Atlas's production costs.

kwater@heraldcorp.com