Dead or alive, you're camming with me, says RoboPup: Bomb squad hires Boston Dynamics Spot to snoop on suspects, packages

Massachusetts' bomb squad have put a Boston Dynamics Spot robot through its paces, making the cops the first US force to deploy the four-legged machine in the field. Official paperwork, obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union and revealed today, documents the East Coast state's Department of Fire Services, on behalf of …

[ThatOne]

Dog from hell

I'm not overly emotional, but I don't know what I would do if I saw a thingumajig like that walk towards me. It reminds me of a giant steel cockroach. Yikes.

[hammarbtyp]

Re: Dog from hell

I cannot see one with out thinking of metalhead from

Black Mirror

I believe it was even based on the Boston Dynamics robot. Far scarier and believable than any terminator

[Chozo]

Re: Dog from hell

Wait till you see the Fox take on War of the Worlds and it's attack dog robots. Replacing the projectile weapon with a captive bolt gun was a stroke of sick genius

[dnicholas]

Sheesh

Just put an autocannon on it already

[Rich 11]

Re: Sheesh

Then strap half a dozen of them to the underside of a drone and HALO them into the riot zone.

[T. F. M. Reader]

A new cyber-nightmare scenario

A terrorist cyber-genius exploits a zero-day, installs a RAT, p0wns a bomb-squad's robo-dog API client, remotely makes the puppy load 14 kg of readily available explosives on its back and pick up some detonators lying around (it's a bomb squad, right?), trot to some sensitive location within 3 miles, and blow itself up at an exhibition, killing some visiting big wigs and all their security personnel. A heavily armed and highly sophisticated gang walk in through the blown-up wall, finish off the wounded, and steal $1.8B worth of rare historical jewellery on loan from a German museum.

A world-wide hunt for the mastermind ensues. Bond teams up with a beautiful cyber-sleuth from Unit 8200 (Gal Gadot seems to be the obvious casting choice) through Russia and its mafia, China and its military, Wasiristan and its suicide bombers, Zurich and its bankers, the Dolomites and the scenery, and Machu Picchu. The latter is connected to the Internet through a Google balloon whose technology holds vital clues to the original zero-day that dates to the times when Google owned the robo-dog manufacturer, demanded disabling Asimov's laws in robo-dogs, and simultaneously dropped the "Don't be evil" slogan. At the climax, the 8200 Bond girl just manages to disable a pride of robo-cougars about to pounce on 007 by exploiting the incompletely patched zero-day to launch a counter-virus that makes the robo-cats purr. Unfortunately the lady gets captured and taken away in a retro-futuristic bulletproof cyber-truck that looks like a cross between a DeLorean and an F-117. Bond is in pursuit in an Aston Martin SUV. The final standoff occurs in a secret volcano layer. Bond finishes off the mastermind by pricking him with the poisoned pin of the oldest and most beautiful piece of stolen jewellery, brought by the Crusaders from the Temple of Jerusalem - after the bad guy helpfully gives a lecture on the piece's provenance and the Israeli girl recalls the poison bit from an elementary school lesson. The heroic couple are discovered by an airborne SAS squad who discreetly turn the other way while the girl tries a 1000 year necklace (and nothing else) on.

Even commentards can dream, eh?

The one with a paperback and a movie option contract in the pocket, please...

[Francis Boyle]

I'd watch that

but you'd have to take out the cyber-truck. That's reserved for the Back to the Future remake.

[Robert Helpmann??]

Re: I'd watch that

but you'd have to take out the cyber-truck. That's reserved for the Back to the Future remake.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who looked at Tesla's new toy and thought, "My God! It's a reincarnated DeLorean!"

[batfink]

Re: A new cyber-nightmare scenario

Very good.

However, personally I think I'd prefer to live in a volcano lair rather than a volcano layer.

[T. F. M. Reader]

Re: A new cyber-nightmare scenario

@batfink - a very good catch ==================>

No editors or proofreaders were hurt in developing this scenario.

[Sgt_Oddball]

Re: A new cyber-nightmare scenario

I dunno, multiple volcanos for a base has a nice spin on it....

[ItsMeDammit]

Ravage wannabe.

Will someone please think of the (not particularly) grown up children and stick a black and grey body kit on it so that it looks like Ravage from the Transformers cartoon ?

[DontFeedTheTrolls]

"on behalf of the bomb squad, leasing Spot for three months between"

I'm guessing the lease is for quite a substantial amount of money given there's a distinct possibility Spot won't be returned.

[Jon 37]

Nah. Boston Dynamics have had a distinct lack of commercial success - they have neat technology but no-one buying it in significant quantities. So they are keen to sell their robots. So a successful trial with a bomb disposal squad would be great for Boston Dynamics, it opens up that market. Even a not-great trial, with good feedback provided so Boston Dynamics can make fixes and changes, would be good for them.

So it's possible the bomb squad got a good discount.

[DCFusor]

A lease is a contract. They could simply say it costs more (a lot) if they can't find the pieces of the thing to return. Or they could include the cost of insurance.

Don't they do that for auto leases?

[Alister]

Where's Montag when you need him?

There's books to be burned...

[Raphael]

This one was begging for a link to the new Bosstown Dynamics video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3RIHnK0_NE