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U.S. Space Force Betting on Robot Dogs for Security Tasks at Cape Canaveral

While Spot, Boston Dynamics’ yellow robot dog won the hearts of many people around the world, Vision-60 Q-UGV didn’t get the same warm welcome. It’s not just because of its formal name but because of its military and law enforcement applications. However, the lack of public popularity didn’t stop this four-legged robot from advancing in its career.
The U.S. Space Force is considering using robot dogs for security patrols 6 photos
Photo: U.S. Space Force photo by Senior Airman Samuel Becker
Vision 60 Robot Dogs at Cape CanaveralVision 60 Robot Dogs at Cape CanaveralVision 60 Robot Dogs at Cape CanaveralVision 60 Robot Dogs at Cape CanaveralVision 60 Robot Dog
Two years ago, the U.S. Air Force officially announced that it would start using robot dogs for patrol tasks in areas that are high-risk for both soldiers and vehicles.

Built by Ghost Robotics in Philadelphia, Vision 60 quickly became known as a fierce military robot, which didn’t get a lot of sympathies. Officially a Q-UGV (quad-legged unmanned ground vehicle), this agile dog is able to move pretty fast (1.6 m/s (5.2 ft./sec) and stay autonomous for almost ten hours on a single battery charge.

The latest challenge for Vision 60 was to prove its patrolling skills at a U.S. Space Force station. A demonstration using at least 2 of these robotic dogs was recently carried out at Cape Canaveral, Florida, Gizmodo reports. The Space Force didn’t reveal too many details about what the tests consisted of, but they were linked to security patrols and similar repetitive tasks.

In the photos that were released, the Vision 60 robot dogs don’t look as scary as the ones that caused a stir last year because they were equipped with machine guns.

According to the Department of Defense, these four-legged robots would mainly be used for damage assessments and security patrols by Space Launch Delta 45, the unit that’s in charge of launch operations at Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center. Apparently, this is mostly about saving man hours on routine tasks.

This was just a demo, so the Ghost Robotics dog is not officially operating within the U.S. Space Force, but it probably won’t be long until these unusual companions will become a common sight at space stations.
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About the author: Otilia Drăgan
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Otilia believes that if it’s eco, green, or groundbreaking, people should know about it (especially if it's got wheels or wings). Working in online media for over five years, she's gained a deeper perspective on how people everywhere can inspire each other.
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