Here we see IHMC Robotics performing a simple maneuver with an ATLAS robot where the programmers sent a single footstep plan to the humanoid. Using its onboard sensors and artificial balance, ATLAS is able to repeatedly climb up and down a small pile of cinderblocks without tumbling. It's a task even a toddler could handle, and ATLAS is roughly on the same development cycle. Except that toddlers aren't physically capable of picking up said cinderblocks and throwing them around a room. [IHMC Robotics via IEEE Spectrum]
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As if the original version of Boston Dynamics' ATLAS robot wasn't unsettling enough, ahead of the upcoming DARPA Robotics Challenge Finals in June about 75 percent of the robot has been redesigned and rebuilt to make it stronger, faster, quieter, and less encumbered by cables thanks to a battery-filled backpack that will now keep it powered during the upcoming trials.