JAYFORCE

Dog robot, dog bot, looking-like-a-giraffe-bot… whatever. Though we are into tech, gotta admit this is getting kinda creepy. Especially at the end of this clip (you can keep that cola can, um, ‘Spot’).

SpotMini is a new smaller version of the Spot robot, weighing 55 lbs dripping wet (65 lbs if you include its arm.) SpotMini is all-electric (no hydraulics) and runs for about 90 minutes on a charge, depending on what it is doing. SpotMini is one of the quietest robots we have ever built. It has a variety of sensors, including depth cameras, a solid state gyro (IMU) and proprioception sensors in the limbs. These sensors help with navigation and mobile manipulation. SpotMini performs some tasks autonomously, but it often uses a human for high-level guidance.

Still, this is a solid step forward in robotics tech; a mobile pick-and-place robot with some serious intelligence designed into it by Boston Dynamics.

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