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Guy Abuses SpotMini Robot, Machine Doesn’t Give Up

A few decades from now, when robots would have taken over the planet, those few of us humans left would be sent to robot tribunal. There, a humanoid machine with a goatee will read aloud the charges and then the sentence, after a jury of its peers would have reached the guilty verdict.
Boston dynamics testing SpotMini robustness 5 photos
Photo: Youtube screenshot / autoevolution.comBoston Dynamics
Boston Dynamics SpotMiniBoston Dynamics SpotMiniBoston Dynamics SpotMiniBoston Dynamics SpotMini
The main charge will be, of course, the abuse humans have inflicted upon the robots’ ancestors. Thankfully, humans are dumb enough to film themselves while abusing machines, so evidence’s aplenty.

Take the guys over at Boston Dynamics. They don’t mess around. They build robots and then torture them. Push them off their feet, if they're humanoid. Hit them with blunt or less so objects. Or pull the robots by their tail, if they’re canine.

We’ve seen Boston Dynamics do this before. Frightening as their robots are, more so are the methods used by engineers to test various responses. This particular one, which you can see below, is called “testing robustness.” Or the robot’s ability to adjust to disturbances.

The disturbance in question is a dude armed with a hockey stick. When SpotMini, the door-opening robot, goes about doing the only thing it is good at, the Casey Jones-wannabe steps it and smacks the robot across its nose-arm-thingy. Exhibit A.

Exhibit B. Robot manages to survive hockey stick and again tries to open the door. Obnoxious little man puts his hand against the door and tries to stop it from opening. In the process, he nearly squashes the robot.

And then, ladies and gentleman, then…

The Horror! The human starts to pull the robot by the tail. The four-legged machine fights with all its might, losing a portion of its rear end in the process. As if this wasn’t enough, the door closes on it, so it will have to do it all over again.

When filming this, humans said “This testing does not irritate or harm the robot.” How cold-hearted can you be, demons?

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About the author: Daniel Patrascu
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Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies.
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