New video from Boston Dynamics shows the quadruped robot dancing and moonwalking. (Video from Boston Dynamics)
This past summer, Boston Dynamics, known for making eerie robots, revealed that the SpotMini will be available for sale in the near future. Now, Spot gets to show off its impressive dance moves in a new video. The company recently posted a clip of Spot dancing to the smash hit “Uptown Funk.” Meant to show off its mobility, the bot shakes, wiggles, and steps in tune with the music. It even pulls off the running man.
Though there’s something a bit creepy about watching this robot dance, its fluid movements are impressive. Spot easily goes from one move to the next without no hiccups or stuttering. Its movements almost seem natural, which may be an uncomfortable thought. Spot’s dance moves may convince more people to take one home when it goes on sale sometime next year as Boston Dynamic’s first commercial product.
While it’s not geared towards one task, in particular, Marc Raibert, the company’s founder, says it could be used for numerous jobs, like inspection duties for heavy industries, security patrol or surveying the “goings ons” at construction sites. It can even be customized with attachments and extra software for specific jobs. The company does hope to sell it for use in people’s homes eventually. Pricing hasn’t been revealed, but you can bet this robot doesn’t come cheap.
Last year, Spot was upgraded to a sleeker, less terrifying design and received new hardware. Now it can walk by itself using autonomous navigation. It uses four cameras to determine where obstacles are and how it can get around them. This new autonomous navigation still requires the bot to be driven manually across an area. This way it can figure out to move around the space on its own. It can even open a door for another robot.
Boston Dynamics scored another viral video with its footage of its Atlas Robots doing parkour moves. The clip shows the machine hopping over obstacles and scaling an uneven terrain with ease. The bot’s processing power has been improved to allow it to use its legs, arms, and torso to keep balance and to power each up 40 cm high step. It looks cool, but we can’t help but think of The Terminator when seeing it in action.
Guess what, you can buy a Spot Mini - coming soon!
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