If you’d thought you’d be able to use a large truck to mow down packs of marauding SpotMinis when they come for you during the robot takeover, think again.
Boston Dynamics, the outfit that created the remarkable robotic dog, has just released a video (above) demonstrating that a weighty vehicle is clearly no match for SpotMini, with 10 of the machines comfortably carting off the truck — up a slight incline, too. That’s as impressive as it is worrying.
And if you want to know what a robot army sounds like, just turn up the volume.
Boston Dynamics confirmed on Tuesday that multiple SpotMini robots are rolling off the production line right now and will be available for a range of applications “soon.” We’re not exactly sure what those applications might include, but looking at this video, roadside assistance could be in the cards.
Boston Dynamics’ dog-like robot has gone through many iterations over the years, with the latest version of SpotMini the most astonishing — and in some ways the most terrifying — we’ve seen yet.
It’s not just its incredibly fluid and lifelike movements that amaze, but also its array of expanding abilities thanks to the addition of an arm-like appendage and increasingly sophisticated smarts made possible via an array of on-board sensors and cameras.
A video of an older version of SpotMini shows it performing various chores around the home, including loading up the dishwasher and throwing away trash. It also slips up on a banana skin, offering a clue as to what we’ll need in our arsenal of weapons should robots ever make an attempt to run the show (that’s right, lots of bananas).
The most recent SpotMini design weighs 66 pounds (30 kg) and can function for around 90 minutes on a single charge, while sensors and cameras placed around its body help it to understand its environment and move smoothly through it.
Boston Dynamics describes SpotMini as the quietest robot among its growing collection of machines, which includes back-flipping and parkour-capable Atlas, and also Handle, an industrious wheel-based robot that appears destined for warehouse work.
As for SpotMini, we can’t wait to see how businesses utilize the robot in their daily work starting later this year.
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