Boston Dynamics explained: from BigDog to the electric Atlas

Boston Dynamics did not just build robots — it built the public's idea of what a robot could be. The viral videos of a robot mule being kicked, a humanoid doing a backflip or a parkour course, defined a generation's expectations. Here is the lineage behind them.

The quadrupeds

BigDog (2005) was a DARPA project: a robot mule that walked, ran and carried loads over terrain vehicles could not reach. Its direct descendant for the commercial world is Spot, which traded brute force for a compact, rugged package that now patrols sites and carries inspection sensors.

The humanoids

Atlas (2013) was the hydraulic humanoid that made backflips look routine. Its 2024 successor is fully electric — quieter, more capable, developed in partnership with Hyundai and aimed at real work rather than demos. The line from Petman, through the hydraulic Atlas, to today's electric Atlas is the spine of the whole company.

The robots that move boxes

Handle and Stretch are the pragmatic branch: wheels, not legs, because warehouses are flat. Stretch exists to unload trucks and move cases — unglamorous, but where the revenue is.

The full catalogue

All Boston Dynamics robots →