A new mini-robot dog from Boston Dynamics can help around the house with tasks such as fetching soda cans and loading a dishwasher. SpotMini is a smaller version of its big brother Spot that was unveiled in February 2015. A new YouTube video shows the little dog walking around a living room and kitchen, and climbing stairs in a mock home.
SpotMini weighs 55 pounds, which is about one-third of the 160-pound Spot. This is in part due to the small robodog having an all-electric structure and lacking the hydraulics of the Google company's past robots.
The robotic dog has a long giraffe-like neck and head attached to a canine body. In addition, the head seems to have a camera attached that lets SpotMini scour the kitchen sink for drinking glasses to put in the dish-washing machine.
The mini robot is equipped with depth cameras, a solid-state gyroscope, and sensors in its legs, according to PC Magazine. It is also very quiet.
Boston Dynamics' bot is also equipped with an attachable arm. This allows it to do tasks such as moving dirty dishes to the dishwasher, and getting a can of soda.
The company's past robots were quite loud due to gas engines and hydraulic systems, according to Ars Technica. The outdoor bots sounded like chainsaws or dirt bikes. In fact, the United States Marines decided last year after testing Boston Dynamics' Alphadog was too loud for military missions.
It seems the Massachusetts-based company wanted to build a robot that was small, quiet, and clean enough to function as a home robot.
Boston Dynamics is known for adding humor to its videos. In the newest video SpotMini slips on a banana peel, then after crashingonto the floor automatically gets its balance back.
Another fun clip shows a plastic-covered version of SpotMini. The plastic robot looks more like an industrial robot instead of a consumer product people might buy to be a mechanical household helper like on "The Jetsons."
Meanwhile, the company reports that it built the canine robot for research purposes, so robot fans will not be able to buy a SpotMini unit.
Google has reportedly been trying to sell Boston Dynamicssince March. Amazon and Toyota have shown interest in buying the robotics company.