Photo: Boston Dynamics
If you were wondering what the guys over at Boston Dynamics are up to with their SpotMini, Atlas or SandFlea, then wonder no more. We are, after all, talking about a company determined to make a buck, after all.
Boston Dynamics has been set up back in 1992. In the over a quarter of a century of existence, it didn’t sell much of anything. But all the efforts put into the creation of its spooky robots have come to fruition.
According to Boston Dynamics founder Marc Raibert, the company is in the final stages of getting the SpotMini ready for the market as soon as next year.
At first, says Techcrunch, about 100 units of the dog-shaped robot will be manufactured and sold for a price that is yet to be announced.
Who and why would buy this robot is to be determined. The SpotMini has just learned how to climb a bunch of stairs, as we’ve seen the past week, and its agility might make him quite nimble when it comes to search and rescue operations.
But that’s not what Boston Dynamics had in mind for it. On the company’s website, the robot is described as “a small four-legged robot that comfortably fits in an office or home.”
Which means people may as well buy one for a pet, or as a platform on which to practice robot programming skills.
The robot is fitted with an array of perception sensors which include stereo cameras, depth cameras, an inertial measurement unit (IMU), and position/force sensors. It’s ideal for spying, or paparazzi business, as it can go about its business, quietly, for up to ninety minutes. That’s how long the batteries powering it last.
“The SpotMini robot is one that was motivated by thinking about what could go in an office — in a space more accessible for business applications - and then, the home eventually,” Raibert was quoted as saying by the source during TechCrunch’s TC Sessions: Robotics event at UC Berkeley.
According to Boston Dynamics founder Marc Raibert, the company is in the final stages of getting the SpotMini ready for the market as soon as next year.
At first, says Techcrunch, about 100 units of the dog-shaped robot will be manufactured and sold for a price that is yet to be announced.
Who and why would buy this robot is to be determined. The SpotMini has just learned how to climb a bunch of stairs, as we’ve seen the past week, and its agility might make him quite nimble when it comes to search and rescue operations.
But that’s not what Boston Dynamics had in mind for it. On the company’s website, the robot is described as “a small four-legged robot that comfortably fits in an office or home.”
Which means people may as well buy one for a pet, or as a platform on which to practice robot programming skills.
The robot is fitted with an array of perception sensors which include stereo cameras, depth cameras, an inertial measurement unit (IMU), and position/force sensors. It’s ideal for spying, or paparazzi business, as it can go about its business, quietly, for up to ninety minutes. That’s how long the batteries powering it last.
“The SpotMini robot is one that was motivated by thinking about what could go in an office — in a space more accessible for business applications - and then, the home eventually,” Raibert was quoted as saying by the source during TechCrunch’s TC Sessions: Robotics event at UC Berkeley.
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