Robots will routinely undertake our more dangerous jobs in the future to help prevent human injury. And to help prepare them for their day in the line of duty, Boston Dynamics has upgraded its Spot quadruped robots with both firefighting and suspicious package-investigating abilities. I assume its specialty is suspicious packages ON FIRE.
Spot can patrol autonomously, searching for anomalies, or be remotely operated from a safe distance. Boston Dynamics has created various sensors and attachments that can be swapped onto the robot to suit a particular situation. Spot can now detect hazardous materials, fight fires, place radios/cameras for reconnaissance, and manipulate heavy objects. That’s great news because I will need help moving a couch this weekend.
Boston Dynamics’ new tagline for the quadruped robot is ‘Keep People Safe With Spot,’ which is smart from a marketing perspective. You have to let people know how the robots are going to help them. Previously, Boston Dynamics would just release videos of their terrifying robots with little to no context of how the robots could help them, and I imagine most people would just imagine an army of robot dogs and humanoids chasing them down the street. That’s not what you want.
[via TechEBlog]
With over 17 years of writing experience, Jonathan has had a passion for all things tech-related, ever since watching Inspector Gadget as a child. He's disassembled countless appliances and managed to put a few back together, and one still works. When not writing, he can often be found playing video games or accidentally hurting himself in the garage.