Boston Dynamics SpotMini: The Robot That Could Replace Your Dog
And you don't even have to house train it.
by Inverse VideoPut simply, SpotMini is a robot dog made by Boston Dynamics, the SoftBank-owned robotics firm that’s doing its best to imitate man’s best friend with motors and circuit boards. It’s strange, cute, weirdly dog-like, and, well, something you just have to see.
It isn’t just for looking at, though. It’s actually a helper tool to assist in household chores while using its four legs to balance. In addition to its new, sleek design, it has an extendable arm to help with various tasks. Can your pupper load the dishwasher like this one? I didn’t think so.
“SpotMini has a diversity of capability,” Boston Dynamics founder Marc Raibert has said about SpotMini. “Its mobility is very good, its manipulation skills are coming along, the vision is pretty good. So we’re starting to turn the corner to think about how to make it a product.”
The company’s previous robot, a bipedal humanoid called Atlas, was so agile and humanlike that many reporters and commentators thought it was a little eerie. That reaction was enough to make Google’s communications team think about distancing Google X from the team in Boston.
“Smart robotics are going to be a key driver of the next stage of the information revolution, and Marc and his team at Boston Dynamics are the clear technology leaders in advanced dynamic robots,” SoftBank Group Chairman Masayoshi Son said when his mega-corporation acquired the company from Alphabet.
These robo-doggos will be leaping into our homes sometime in the next few years. Keep your eyes peeled for their signature trot, coming soon to a home near you.
You’ve read that, now watch this: “Boston Dynamics’ Atlas Robot Does a Backflip”:
