Spot, the Dancing Robot That Stole the Show on America's Got Talent

Boston Dynamics' Quadruped Robots Perform Group Dance on America's Got Talent

Spot, the quadruped robot developed by Boston Dynamics, a robotics company under Hyundai Motor Group, drew attention by performing a group dance on the American TV show "America's Got Talent."

On June 11 (local time), the official YouTube channel of NBC's America's Got Talent posted a video titled "Boston Dynamics Makes History with Robot Dancing."

Five Spot robots took the stage and danced to Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now." The Spots gathered together and then spread out, performing side-to-side swaying motions. The front part of the robot arm moved in sync with the lyrics, giving the impression that the robot was actually singing along.

'Build, Break, Fix'... Rising Again After Falling Down

One of Boston Dynamics' Spot robots stopped moving and sat down. During the interview, when the Spot that had sat down stood up and resumed normal operation, the audience gave a standing ovation and cheered. America Got Talent YouTube channel

However, shortly after the song began, one of the robots stopped moving and sat down. The remaining four Spots completed the performance successfully, and the audience responded with a standing ovation and cheers.

One of the judges commented, "It might have been better that one robot stopped. It shows just how difficult this is."

Another judge asked, "Can you fix it?" A Boston Dynamics researcher replied, "Of course. At Boston Dynamics, we have a saying: 'Build, break, fix.'"

As the researcher said this, the Spot that had been sitting down stood up and resumed normal operation. When it moved to the center of the stage and started dancing energetically again, the audience erupted in applause. All of the judges gave Spot a "yes," promising to see it again in the next round.

Smooth and Expressive Movements Achieved

On the 10th, Boston Dynamics' Spot performed choreography to a song on the American TV show "America's Got Talent." America's Got Talent YouTube channel

Boston Dynamics stated, "We were able to achieve smooth and expressive movements by applying software specialized for dance motions," and added, "If we are invited back to the show, we will present a new performance using Spot." Currently, Boston Dynamics continues to strengthen its capabilities to develop intelligent robots based on reinforcement learning. The bipedal robot Atlas is expected to be deployed on a finished vehicle production line as early as the end of this year.