The Spot base platform features stereo cameras for obstacle avoidance, has a runtime of 90-minutes, and comes with customizable options. (Image credit: Boston Dynamics via YouTube)
Boston Dynamics has recently announced they are selling their popular Spot 4-legged robot, which has been in development for years. Annual videos released during that time have highlighted the robots seemingly unnatural capabilities, such as the infamous ‘kicking’ video released back in 2015. The company announced that Spot would be their first commercially available robot at TechCrunch's TC Sessions: Robotics conference last year and they have lived up to their word.
Boston Dynamics explains, “Spot is an agile, mobile robot that you can customize for a wide range of applications. The base platform provides rough-terrain mobility, 360-degree obstacle avoidance, and various levels of navigation, remote control, and autonomy. You can customize Spot by adding specialized sensors, software, and other payloads. Early customers are already testing Spot to monitor construction sites, provide remote inspection at gas, oil and power installations, and in public safety. Spot is in mass production and currently shipping to select early adopters.”
Under the hood, Spot is outfitted with five sensor modules located in the front, back, and both sides, which gives it 3600 awareness of its environment. The legs are driven with 12 reduction motors, giving it a top speed of around 5-feet per-second, and its onboard battery allows the robot to run for 90-minutes before needing a recharge.
Along with with the base unit, Spot can also be customized with different hardware configurations, including a 6-DOF arm, and a camera system capable of taking Google Street View-type of images in an indoor setting. There’s no word on pricing, even for the base unit, as there are too many options for its configuration, however according to in an interview with VP of Business Development (Boston Dynamics) Michael Perry from IEEE Spectrum, leasing Spot will be less than the price of a car.
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