12 Most Memorable Robotics Moments of 2021

2021 was a year of considerable ups, downs and memorable moments for the robotics industry. Here are the 12 most memorable robotics moments of the year, according to The Robot Report. 

12. Elon Musk Unveils Tesla Bot

This event made the list because of how awkward the robot's unveiling was, not because anyone should believe that Tesla Bot will ever see the light of day or ever take your jobs.

Instead of presenting something remotely resembling a prototype at Tesla's AI Day, Elon Musk had a person in a Tesla Bot costume perform a quirky dance on stage. A memorable moment, no doubt. 

11. Indy Autonomous Challenge

Autonomous race cars speeding around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway at nearly 225 km/h? Why not. TUM Autonomous Motorsport from the Technical University of Munich won the Indy Autonomous Challenge (IAC). It recorded the fastest average speed over two laps at 218.78 km/h.

All the cars had the same chassis, engine and body design. They also all had the same autonomous driving technology, including LiDAR, RADAR, machine vision cameras, IMS and a GPS sensor kit. The vehicles were built on Cisco routers and the ADLINK Technologies AVA edge AI autonomous racing computer. 

All the cars ran the same software stack, built on the Robot Operating System (ROS). The hardest problem was developing racing algorithms that could perform sensor fusion and process input data in real time while the car was moving at high speeds.

The IAC will hold competitions at CES 2022 in Las Vegas. This time the event will feature autonomous racing competitions with nine teams from 19 universities in eight countries.

10. Toyota's Basketball-Playing Robot

Sure, it's not Stephen Curry (the American professional basketball player), but Toyota's CUE basketball robot drew attention at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The 186 cm robot sank a series of three-pointers during halftime of the men's preliminary round Group B match between the USA and France on July 25, 2021. 

CUE uses sensors to calculate the distance to the hoop and the angle of the basket before using its motorized arms and knees to shoot.

Later during the Olympics, CUE became less accurate and started missing shots. However, Toyota took the robot back to its lab and continued working on it. CUE can now dribble a basketball. Its hands are not yet quite on the level of Luka Dončić (2017 EuroBasket champion with the Slovenian national team), but they are still impressive.

9. Cruise's First Robotaxi Ride in San Francisco

For San Francisco-based autonomous driving developer Cruise, this was old news. The company has been working on self-driving vehicles since its founding in 2013 and was acquired by GM in 2016.

On November 3, 2021, Cruise released two videos showing the first driverless robotaxi ride in San Francisco. The passenger was none other than Cruise co-founder, CTO and President Kyle Vogt.

The videos show Vogt enjoying both the back-seat ride and the data displayed by the car's sensors. It is a great visualization of the chaotic driving environment autonomous vehicles must navigate in San Francisco, even when it is 11:30 p.m. outside.

Cruise received permission to offer robotaxi rides to passengers in California. The permit allows the company to operate robotaxis from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., presumably when the city has less traffic.

8. First Demonstration of the MassRobotics Interoperability Standard

If you thought there was a lot of talk about interoperability in 2021, just wait until 2022! A public demonstration of the MassRobotics interoperability standard was organized by FedEx and held at the FedEx DART Lab, where the company evaluates new logistics automation solutions.

Vecna Robotics, Waypoint Robotics and WiBotic took part in the demonstration. What is remarkable about this demonstration is that it exposes the complexities involved and undermines the proprietary information position that many autonomous mobile robot manufacturers rely on.

7. Atlas Does Parkour

Boston Dynamics' Atlas is the most advanced humanoid on the planet. That became undeniable after a video appeared in August 2021 showing two Atlas robots doing parkour. It is incredible.

The robots run, jump and perform synchronized double backflips. These maneuvers already seem routine for Atlas, which speaks to the incredible talent of the people working behind the scenes.

6. The Intel RealSense Fiasco

Will Intel continue or discontinue its RealSense line of depth-sensing stereo cameras? That is a question no one can answer yet. The confusion began in August 2021, when Intel announced and then backtracked on closing its RealSense business.

In September, Intel announced the end of life for RealSense LiDAR products used for tracking and facial authentication. At the same time, the company said it would "continue to sell stereo products to current distributor customers".

5. Amazon's Astro Home Robot Fails to Impress

After years of rumors and leaks that Amazon was developing a household robot, we finally saw Astro in September 2021. For many, it was a disappointment. After nearly four years of development, not to mention the money and people involved, Amazon effectively built an Echo Show on wheels.

The company says Astro can be used for a variety of purposes, including home monitoring, video calls with family and friends, entertaining children and all the same features people already know and love on Alexa devices.

Astro brings back memories of Anki (Blue Frog Robotics), Jibo (Mayfield Robotics) and other failed consumer robots of the past. With a price of $1449 and limited availability, Astro will likely meet the same fate.

4. Waymo Robotaxis Confused by Traffic Cones

Of course, this was not the first time robotaxis were confused by everyday road obstacles, and it will not be the last. But it offers a good look at how far autonomous driving technology still has to go before it can be deployed at scale.

In this incident, a Waymo robotaxi needed to turn right onto a multi-lane main road, but the rightmost lane was blocked by orange construction cones. After the planning system could not work out how to handle the situation, it asked for roadside assistance. A human had to arrive within minutes to take control of the car. 

However, before help arrived, the Waymo robotaxi drove into the road and stopped again, this time blocking traffic. The car got stuck two more times before a technical support agent could get into it.

3. Boston Dynamics Unveils Stretch Truck-Unloading Robot

Boston Dynamics is best known for its Atlas and Spot robots. But the company surprised everyone in early 2021 by unveiling Stretch, a robot that is the next generation of Handle, introduced in 2017.

Stretch has no legs, but it has an omnidirectional mobile base with four independently controlled wheels, plus a specialized industrial robot arm with seven degrees of freedom that can lift up to 22.6 kg, a custom gripper and more.

Stretch is planned to go on sale in limited quantities in 2022. It will initially focus on unloading trucks and later add palletizing to its repertoire. If Stretch can handle the high level of package variety it will encounter, it could become Boston Dynamics' most successful commercial robot, since truck unloading is a major bottleneck in the supply chain.

2. Ingenuity Helicopter Makes the First Flight on Mars

NASA's Ingenuity Helicopter completed its first flight on Mars on April 19, 2021. It was the first powered, controlled flight in history on another planet. The solar-powered helicopter, which cost $80 million, lifted off for the first time at 3:34 a.m. Eastern time and reached its planned maximum altitude of about 3 m. It hovered for 30 seconds before landing back on the Martian surface.

1. Perseverance Rover Lands on Mars

This is most likely the top moment of 2021. NASA's Perseverance Rover and the Ingenuity helicopter landed on Mars on February 18, 2021, at around 3:55 p.m. Eastern time. Launched in late July 2020, Perseverance traveled 470.7 million km from Earth to Mars. 

The rover is exploring Mars for signs of microfossils in rocks and soil. In September 2021, the rover collected its first rock sample. NASA is working on a system to bring these rock samples back to Earth. The mission is expected to take ten years. It is an incredible engineering feat by everyone involved, and it is already changing the future of space exploration.