Boston Dynamics, the robotics affiliate of Hyundai Motor Group, on the 18th (local time) released a video showing the working capabilities of its Humanoid Robot Atlas. The clip shows the machine moving a heavy refrigerator, effectively demonstrating full-body control again after high-difficulty gymnastics moves on the 6th. In particular, with full-body control now coupled with the ability to handle objects, some say deployment on production lines is imminent.
In Boston Dynamics' 46-second video, the Atlas development model half-bends its knees to lift a small refrigerator weighing about 23 kg. It then grabs the object with both arms, stands up, and hoists the refrigerator. From that posture, it steps backward, rotates its upper body 180 degrees, and sets it on a table. Even while carrying and moving the refrigerator, it did not lose balance.
It is said that advanced full-body control technology is required to perform such movements. That is because it is easy to lose balance when lifting objects with irregular size and weight. Also, when information such as an object's mass or center of gravity is not provided, Atlas must estimate the object using sensors and correct for uncertainty.
Boston Dynamics said on its blog that Atlas rapidly learned movements through large-scale simulation-based Reinforcement Learning. It said the Reinforcement Learning process repeatedly cycled through successes and failures in a virtual space to build task planning and execution capabilities needed in the real world and to derive optimal motions.
Through this, Atlas secured the motor skills to approach the refrigerator, recognize it, plan the process of lifting and moving it, and execute each step in sequence, according to Boston Dynamics. In the real world, Atlas succeeded in carrying not only a 23 kg (50 lb) refrigerator but also one up to 45 kg (100 lb).
Boston Dynamics said the results show advances in Atlas' Reinforcement Learning and full-body control technologies. A Hyundai Motor Group official said, "This is an important turning point that shows Atlas is moving beyond lab-level demos into a phase where it performs tasks in industrial sites with many variables."
In January, at CES 2026, Hyundai Motor Group outlined a vision to expand Robotics into daily life and across industries to drive human progress. A Hyundai Motor Group official said, "We plan to fuse robot AI technologies to open a new era of Robotics research and accelerate a sweeping transition in future industries."