Tuesday, October 15, 2024

Meet Spot, the first robot for sale by Boston Dynamics

It has been a decade since the Boston Dynamics showed us the performance of its bipedal robot that left us all with our mouths open. During all these years the things have not changed much, every video that Boston Dynamics launches leaves us amazed.

But, in all this time not a single robot of the American robotics company has gone on sale, all have been shown with projects in the development stage until yesterday.

But now, on Tuesday, Boston Dynamics has made its most important announcement, as for the first time it is putting one of its robots for sale. Also, it has published its specifications, something that they had never done before. This robot is ‘Spot,’ which previously was known as ‘SpotMini,’ and the company has also dropped an attractive promo video that shows all the benefits and possible functions of the robot.

The robot will be modular.
The robot will be modular.

As explained in the video and on the company’s website, ‘Spot’ will be able to move at a speed of up to 3 mph (4.8 kph), it will have rechargeable and interchangeable battery with a range of 90 minutes. Also, thanks to its design, the four-legged robot can move through complicated places on surfaces of all kinds.

The robot will use various sensors and stereo cameras to have a 360-degree view of its surroundings. This will allow the robot to move autonomously, setting a destination point, or draw an entire path – all while avoiding obstacles.

According to the company, Spot will have IP54 rain and dustproof certification, ideal for moving in industrial environments. It will be able to operate in temperatures between -20 ° C, and 45 ° C. The robot dog Spot can carry up to 14 kilograms of payload and one of its more attractive features is that it will be modular. This means we can add new attachments to expand its possibilities and can do new tasks.

The mechanical quadruped isn’t going on sale exactly, but if you’re a company with a good idea (and some money), you’ll be able to get one. The company hasn’t made them available to the average consumer just yet. For this reason, so far, there is no published price, but it is believed that it could cost the same as a luxury car.

While ‘Spot’ goes on sale, Boston Dynamics does not want us to forget what was its first robot and that today is one of the most impressive machines that currently exist. It has just published a new video that shows ‘Atlas’ doing a kind of gymnastics routine. It keeps sharing the performance videos of its robots.

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