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Spot the Robot Dog Is One Year Old and Has Accomplished so Much Already

Robots come in many forms nowadays, but few of them manage to stir any emotions in you, as there’s a lack of human-ness in most of these machines. Spot the robot dog has no human traits either to be fair, but they did give it the shape of “man’s best friend”, which was enough for it to grab attention and make the headlines. It’s been a year since Spot was released for sale, so here’s a "Happy Birthday!" to the yellow bot.
Spot the Robot Dog 9 photos
Photo: Boston Dynamics/YouTube
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Spot might be just a year old, but it’s managed to accomplish quite a lot in its short droid life. It’s been involved in a variety of operations, for improving productivity, safety, and efficiency. The robot managed to go where no wheeled robot has ever gone before, being deployed in nuclear plants, electrified sub-stations, and many other hazardous locations.

UKAEA (the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority) used Spot for inspection to detect radiation at Chernobyl. National Grid sent the yellow dog to a substation outside Boston, to inspect a high-voltage facility. The bot was even involved in combat exercises in a French military camp.

Spot proved it can also be useful for household chores like picking up clothes off the floor. But it hasn’t been all business and no fun for the popular droid. Spot wished a Happy New Year to the world at the end of 2020 through a video of it dancing along with its two other robot buddies, Atlas and Handle.

Spot is now used in hundreds of locations worldwide, doing anything from inspection work to deliveries, exploring hard-to-reach places, and so much more. The bot is enabled for mobile manipulation and can be programmed for manual, semi-automated, and fully automated actions. It is equipped with stereo cameras and can be controlled through an app.

Spot the robot dog is the creation of Boston Dynamics, a robotics design company based in Massachusetts.

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About the author: Cristina Mircea
Cristina Mircea profile photo

Cristina’s always found writing more comfortable to do than speaking, which is why she chose print over broadcast media in college. When she’s not typing, she also loves riding non-motorized two-wheelers, going on hikes with her dog, and rocking her electric guitars.
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