Boston Dynamics' Robot Dog - Spot!

Redefining tasks with Robot Dogs, they now have real jobs - working in deep mines, factories, and... police departments.

Hey friends,

Have you heard of Spot, the Robot dog? I sure didn’t before this. Let’s dive into it.

Image Credit: IEEE Spectrum

Boston Dynamics, a robot company, made Atlas. Atlas, a dynamic humanoid robot, debuted in July 11, 2013. It was primarily made for research.

Now Spot is sort of a cousin to Atlas. Spot is made for consumer use. Priced at around $74,000, Spot can walk, climb, avoid obstacles, and see a full 360 degrees! It has 2 cameras in the front and that is connected to a controller (almost like a Nintendo switch controller), one on each side of its body, and one on the behind. Additionally, there are multiple ‘payloads‘ that can be attached to Spot depending on the task. The most viral one is of the ‘arm‘ attachment for Spot to open doors.

Boston Dynamics has since got a lot of online attention, showcasing Spot’s capabilities through viral videos where it dances, opens doors, and even pulls a truck. (watch this cool video of a dance battle)

But you can’t just tell the dog “Hey, go inspect this tunnel.” First, the dog is driven through a manual test drive. After the step by step demonstration, Spot is able to then adjust to any real time obstacles to do that. It is also built to protect itself from injuries.

Companies are willing to give $75K - $300K for the robot dogs! Why?

Well, Spot is used to do boring things that humans do. Some jobs are inspecting packing for air leaks, equipment, tunnels and many more. But why a dog? Because 4 feet are more stable than 2 on a robot, and is more manageable than 6 for coordination.

But companies want to EXPAND on robot dogs. After buying them from Boston Dynamics, they build different Payloads and almost customize Spot to perform to their needs. These needs do have a limit.

Originally, the whole project of Boston Dynamics was funded the US Military force. Moving forward, as Boston Dynamics let Spot for purchase, it set guidelines as to limit Spot’s use. Using weapons as payloads is a strict no-no. As with any other piece of tech, there are questions as to where we should draw the line. For example, should robot dogs be allowed to patrol cities, in case of crime. Should they be having video recording at all times?

Whatever is decided in the future, robot dogs can truly be a platform to do more things. Go to dangerous places (for example because of radiation), checking for safety, and much more.

What do you think?

Keep learning,

Suhana.