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New Boston Dynamics Robot Is a Dog That Can Fetch Beer, Still Looks Creepy

Boston Dynamics is a company that likes to remind us the future from Terminator is closer than we might think. So far, they've built several animal-like robots that can walk, run and even jump.
New Boston Dynamics Robot Is a Dog That Can Fetch Beer, Still Looks Creepy 1 photo
Photo: screenshot from Youtube
This is their latest, the SpotMini. While it's smaller than previous robots, it can do so much more. For example, it might become man's best friend in a not-too-distant future.

While a dog can be trained to fetch newspapers or slippers, the SpotMini is programmable in several other ways. For example, it could bring you a can of beer and then take it back to the trash can.

Or at least that's what we imagine happening after watch we watched the presentation video. The robot weighs only 65 pounds, is powered by batteries and can be equipped with various mechanical arms... where the head should be.

The early Boston Dynamics robots looked similar to what the US army was looking into. They could go off-road, carry stuff and think for themselves, relatively speaking.

Well, reports indicate that Alphabet is looking to sell the robot-making company, and Toyota is interested. As we all know, the Big T is keen to help old people with household chores and make retirement a little easier. The SpotMini plays into that very well, especially with its household appliance body.

'SpotMini is one of the quietest robots we have ever built, the firm says, due to its electric motors. It has a variety of sensors, including depth cameras, a solid state gyro (IMU) and proprioception sensors in the limbs. SpotMini performs some tasks autonomously, but often uses a human for high-level guidance," says Boston Dynamics.

Do we need a house robot that can pick up a wine glass or one that can get up after tripping on some bananas? Both and neither in our opinion, but the Japanese will surely disagree.

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About the author: Mihnea Radu
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Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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