90 minutes at 3mph. It's not exactly a wide ranging beast is it? I bet that 90 minutes isn't flat out fully loaded either.
Every dog has its day – and this one belongs to Boston Dynamic's four-legged good boy Spot
Shambling military-grade mechanical monstrosity maker Boston Dynamics has officially launched its dog-like robot, Spot. The company's most famous creation was a giant pack-carrying quadruped called BiGDog. It was designed with help from the US Marines and DARPA, and could carry 180kg, but despite dozens of well-shared internet …
COMMENTS
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Wednesday 25th September 2019 11:45 GMT phuzz
Useful?
So from that advert, as far as I can tell the single useful thing it can do, is to carry a single breezeblock. As far as I could tell, it couldn't load or unload itself either.
I suppose you could make it take your real dog for a walk? And I suppose with the robot arm attachment and some image processing you might even get it to pick up your dog's shit as well. Unless it just walks through it and them tramples the shit through your house of course.
As with all "Robots/AI are coming to take your jobs!!!11!!1" articles, we have to ask: wouldn't it be easier to employ a teenager for minimum wage?
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Wednesday 25th September 2019 12:35 GMT Chris G
Re: Useful?
IP54 is not particularly weatherproof, my phone is IP68 and will take pics under water, this dog is not going to do well in a thunderstorm, is slow and underpowered.
What happened to the one with a two stroke engine? More power and much scarier.
At least this dog doesn't stop to pee on everything, and probably doesn't sniff crotches.
Apparently it can be leased for less than the price of a car, whatever that means.
Anyone leased a Bugatti Veyron lately?
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Wednesday 25th September 2019 17:43 GMT Dave 126
Re: Useful?
IP*8 is waterproof, IP*2 means it is safe to use in rain falling at no more than 15 degree angle. Seems fit for purpose to me, since one wouldn't normally carry out scheduled inspections when it's pissing down in a howling gale.
The first digit, in the case the 5 in IP52, refers to object / dust ingress. 5 means that whilst dust might enter it, the dust won't bugger it up.
Still, it seems to be largely a development platform at this stage; organisations might buy a couple of this gen to play with and code for.
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Thursday 26th September 2019 12:36 GMT Ugotta B. Kiddingme
Re: Still, it seems to be largely a development platform at this stage
Exactly. Lots of comments about "doesn't seem very useful/capable now, does it?" These overlook the fact that most if not all of today's useful tech started out significantly less capable/useful than they are today: automobiles, airplanes, PCs, wireless phones, satellites, etc. This is an early iteration that will almost certainly continue to be developed into ever more useful and capable versions. Given that the current iteration can probably* pour and deliver a cold pint, I'd say it's already fairly useful.
*already has the grippy arm and other grippy arm robots can pour beer so, in theory, SPOT can have that code added.
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Thursday 26th September 2019 09:57 GMT Tom Paine
Re: Useful?
As with all "Robots/AI are coming to take your jobs!!!11!!1" articles, we have to ask: wouldn't it be easier to employ a teenager for minimum wage?
Funny thing. An apparently leading explanation for the long-standing crap UK productivity stats is that thanks to the "reformed", "flexible" labour market - gig economy, zero hours etc , it's easier for firms to substitute expensive R&D and capital investment (new, more productive machinery) by just hiring more Fleshy Ones. Result: crappy, ineffecient, unreliable, inaccurate, slow old tooling operated by armies of ragged, poverty-striken employees. Sounds far-fetched? Take a look around you, dear reader...
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Wednesday 25th September 2019 12:04 GMT Khaptain
That's the sales gimmick that you didn't see.... You need to buy a whole army of these things in order to keep logistics running correctly..
One dog to bite.
One dog to change the battery of the dog that bites.
One dog to insert extra batteries into charger.
One dog to store and retrieve batteries from battery shelf.
One untitled dog to piss everyone off ( wink goes out to everyone's favourite goose).
Anyway you get the idea.
I hate Boston Dynamics, they are just so damned good at what they do, it must be fun being on their team.... certainly more fun than working in my industry.....
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Wednesday 25th September 2019 12:08 GMT Khaptain
14 Kg
The average AR15 is only around 3kg, so that leaves about 11kg for munition and some kind of belt feed system....
That would make a nasty challenge in many situations such as ............... ( I'll let everyone fill in their favourite usage so as not to offend the feint of heart or PC Madness Collegians)
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Wednesday 25th September 2019 12:44 GMT WonkoTheSane
Adam Savage's new foster pet
I understand from Adam Savage's twitter that he's got one of these for his Tested.com youtube channel for the next year.
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Friday 27th September 2019 08:05 GMT Muscleguy
AI is nowhere near being as good as the brain of a labrador. Also the blind person has to be able to trust the guide and it has to be adaptable and capable of recognising unusual threats. The auto driving AI's fall down at that point and they have more sensors and heavier computers than spot could usefully have.
The companionship of a dog is also a major factor as well as the need to exercise it, and yourself. Guide dogs get blind people out. A spot with it's limited battery would do the opposite.
And finally 90min is pushing it, unless it can lie down and save power in the cafe.
Fun fact: labradoodles were originally developed to be hypo-allergenic guide dogs (they shed in a limited fashion) but the hyperactivity and ADHD of the breed kyboshed that idea.
They train the guide dogs around here, they are part of the normal furniture so much we all assume the person with the guide dog can see. I know labradoodles as well and, no, just no.
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Thursday 26th September 2019 10:09 GMT theOtherJT
Alternatively...
...you could get an actual dog. While their carrying capacity might be _slightly_ lower, a large dog with an appropriate pack could certainly manage 10 kilos, and they run for way longer than 90 minutes between charges and at much more than 3mph. I suspect they're significantly cheaper too, and if you get two dogs you can even produce new ones in house.
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Thursday 26th September 2019 22:40 GMT sofaspud
Re: Alternatively...
While true, you're forgetting the waste disposal requirements that come along with Live Dogs. A single Live Dog with the 10kg carrying capacity frame will produce significant waste product on a daily basis, and requires ready access to both H2O and other organic compounds as fuel.
RoboDog, on the other hand, just plugs into your outlet, and produces no waste requiring disposal.
We do not recommend plugging a Live Dog into your electrical outlet. You will void the warranty at the very least.
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Friday 27th September 2019 02:52 GMT the Jim bloke
I would have been more impressed if the video showed it stepping through the tyres, instead of up a clear path behind the tyres.
Still, the suggested use cases - hostile environment monitoring /hazardous recon does sound reasonable, though you would want to do a cost/benefit analysis against just using a graduate engineer.
Still early days, and plenty of progress to be made, but the the more these things are used, the more advances will be made.