Boston Dynamics’ Spot can now charge by itself

Robots are helping us at home and in the workplace. Boston Dynamics previously introduced a robotic dog, named Spot, that can pick up objects and even skip a rope. Let's explore these latest updates and what to expect in today's blog.

Boston Dynamics’ Spot in action

Boston Dynamics’ Spot is an intelligent robot dog that resembles the design and movement of a dog, but this four-legged robot can help you with gardening, pick up laundry from around the house, and it can even climb stairs to help with industrial tasks. As if those capabilities aren’t impressive enough, Boston Dynamics has revolutionized how Spot operates.

Spot Enterprise boasts a longer battery life, can charge itself, and features an additional fifth limb. Let’s explore some more updates Boston Dynamics has revealed.

Additional limb to support more tasks

Spot is both a residential and commercial robotic dog that can support you with daily tasks. And now it sports five limbs for additional assistance. This extra limb allows it to open and shut valves, turn handles and knobs, and pull levels. This allows it to open doors. And this extra limb will feature six degrees of freedom, meaning it’s equipped with multiple rotating joints to remain flexible.

Furthermore, this additional arm has a hand attached to the end. Therefore, it can clamp down on objects and hold them firmly in place. In fact, it can even hold a piece of chalk for drawing.

Self-charging technology

Spot Enterprise is equipped with a self-charging capability and a dock. As a result, it can perform longer inspections, pick up more items, and undergo more tasks with minimal human interaction. And this upgrade also features improved hardware for enhanced safety, behavior, and communications. This is particularly important in environments where there’s no human supervision.

Original Boston Dynamics Spot

Meet Scout—an updated software

And if that’s not enough, Boston Dynamics are also introducing Scout, a web-based software. This lets you control a fleet of Spots from a virtual room, so you don’t need to be in the same location as a Spot. You can use Scout to transport Spot to an on-site task and inspect equipment. This upgraded software features a simple user interface that’ll manually control the robot.

Furthermore, this software update lets you capture images and thermal data using Spot’s CAM+IR thermal imaging. And it also features a 30 x optical zoom.

What are your thoughts on the latest version of Spot? Share your thoughts in the comments.