I'm Tom Stevens (nickname: HAROLD) from the Boston Dynamics Atlas project that helped spawn and create dynamic humanoid robots since 2014!  My BD team created and set the stage for the humanoids you see today! You can spot me in the videos wearing a Kiss T-shirt. 

In the 90's, I was pushing the boundaries of how fast a motor could move with accuracy. This was the hidden, cutting edge of responsive robotics. I was deeply involved with the motor control systems for DNA mapping, retina scanning, space shuttle docking, laser shows, spectroscopy, etc...  Without the Cambridge Technology team in the 90's, none of these awesome things that we use today would have been possible...and my future would have been different.  

But...there was a more ambitious frontier on the horizon...dynamic robotics. After a stint in semiconductor work, I joined Boston Dynamics to figure out how to make robotics hardware survive and perform the impossible. It wasn't only me, rather, it was a "dream team" I was invited into, learning techniques not taught in university settings. This was really a cutting-edge combination of physics, electrical, mechanical, emag, and forward looking invention...with the right people creating tomorrow, which leads us to where we are today. 

There are scores of dynamic humanoid companies today in 2026, but there was only one king of the hill in 2014...Boston Dynamics, led by Marc Raibert, Al Rizzi, and Robert Playter. They are the rockstars of dynamic robotics....and so I joined the effort knowing that the absolute best in robotics were leading the charge into a risky and dynamic world that would unfold for decades to come. 

We are in the future now in 2026, and seeing the impact that Boston Dynamics has had on the world of robotics, AI, and the next revolution of technologies to come. Massive investment and the spawning of the largest players in technology is testament to the potenacy of Boston Dynamics' influence on the high-tech world in general. 20 + humanoid fans entered the market in the recent 2 years inluding Tesla, Figure, Hmnd, and the list goes on.  Boston Dynamics made this market emerge and it is driving investment in research into the lastest AI techniques and beyond. 

Time moves on, teams rearrange, the famous inventors and enablers look now to find new inspiration as always, but there is a very defined group that leads the hardware ambitions of tomorrow in robotics. We enjoy the freedom of being the first "Man on the Moon" in robotics hardware. But....This is why I have joined the awesomely chaotic world of robotics at RAI. These are the folks on the inner circle of robotics that have so much wisdom and experience that I had never gotten to work with yet....and now I do!  

After 30+ years of working closely with the world's most ambitious and successful Robotics Engineers, Managers, CEO's , Techs, and Staff,  I continue to do the same at RAI.  The electronics and hardware I build survives the newest ambitions of AI and robotics...and you've seen it all in the videos!