back to article Hot not-Spot-bot spot: The code behind Xiaomi's CyberDog? Ubuntu

Linux fans rejoice: the smarts running behind Xiaomi's Not-Spot, CyberDog, emanate from none other than Ubuntu 18.04. The Register asked Canonical why not something a little fresher, such as 20.04, and were told by robotics product manager, Gabriel Aguiar Noury, that "the operating system is running 18.04 rather than 20.04 …

  1. Throatwarbler Mangrove Silver badge
    Linux

    In before ...

    the inevitable "Ubuntu runs like a dog" jokes.

  2. elsergiovolador Silver badge

    Wake me up

    Wake me up when communists show something that they didn't copy.

    Now go ahead buy another shiny object and help building those missiles that will inevitably reach Taiwan or crush another democracy in the near future or fund concentration camps in Xinjiang.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Wake me up

      "...help building those missiles that will inevitably reach Taiwan or crush another democracy..."

      And I do. I help everyday by generating US tax dollars.

    2. MrMerrymaker

      Re: Wake me up

      I feel you, but

      I don't have a spare 75k hanging around, nor would I blow it on a robot dawg.

      I admire Xiaomi even trying to do it at this price point.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Wake me up

      Speaking of copying

      China’s Communist Party took American democracy to task on Saturday, sharply criticizing a global democracy summit being hosted by President Joe Biden next week and extolling the virtues of its governing system.

      Party officials questioned how a polarized country that botched its response to COVID-19 could lecture others, and said that efforts to force others to copy the Western democratic model are “doomed to fail.”[AP]

  3. SCP
    Joke

    Miaow

    "Although the fact they're running on open source means there'll probably be years of vicious infighting between a pack of them before they get anywhere near menacing civilisation."

    Catty!

  4. JassMan

    Are its knees backwards?

    ... looks an awful lot like Boston Dynamic's Spot, replete with those backward knees

    I believe that in their effort to make Spot vaguely dog-like they forgot to give it knees at all. The thing about dogs (and cats and other 4 legged animals) is a lot of people think their knees are backwards, but in fact the prominent joint is the equivalent of an ankle in a human. AFAIK all land mammals have their knees in the same orientation as humans. Obviously seals and cetacea are built a bit differently, but I understand some of them also have vestigial leg bones in the same orientation but don't have hips so they are disconnected from the spine and thus useless as limbs.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Points of the dog (Are its knees backwards?)

      It's a terminology thing. The correct terms for quadruped rear limbs are "stifle" for the equivalent of the human knee, and "hock" for the equivalent of the ankle, then fetlock (heel) for the next one down. For the front limbs, the elbow is up near the chest and the knee is the equivalent of the human wrist. The horsy world still seems to use the proper words, as I suppose do veterinarians.

      1. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

        Re: Points of the dog (Are its knees backwards?)

        Took my non-cyber dog to the vet recently.

        They said they would put the jab in it's right "arm" - I looked slightly confused for a while before working out that they meant the front leg

  5. dajames

    18.04?

    Well, at least it won't snap at people ... not by default, anyway.

  6. Kurt 5

    Cleaning up after it

    Insert obligatory joke about cleaning up the core dumps.

  7. Chris G

    Smart move

    Selling at a way more affordable price, even if it is less capable is a good idea as more users will broaden potential uses and aid development.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Smart move for an arrogant power monger

      >Xiaomi has released 1,000 units at a price of $1,540

      Blatant dumping, no? Copy the code(*) from your competitors, developed over decades, undercut with MASSIVE CPP-provided subsidies, corner the market and steal all the jobs.

      (*https://hypebeast.com/2020/1/boston-dynamics-spot-robot-open-source-code)

      Boston Dynamics opened their code with the goal to broaden potential uses and aid development. The CPP response is annihilate any fruition of that growth outside of China.

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