You Can Buy Boston Dynamics' Robot Spot, But We Don't Really Know Why It's Useful
Got a spare $74,500 lying around? You can now buy your very own robot dog, aka. Spot by Boston Dynamics. This is a great deal because it... wait, what exactly does this robot do? Continue reading below as we attempt to figure out exactly what Spot does (aside from dancing really well).
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Spot has been in the eye of the media for a few years. Like most of Boston Dynamics' robots, they've released videos at each stage of development, showing off the robots' new skills. But now, Spot is officially for commercial sale at $74,500 USD. Each person can buy a maximum of two Spots (sad if you want a herd of them). But before we start digging into our savings (lol joking, what normal person has that much money to spend on a robot?), we must ask ourselves a very important question: what is the purpose of Spot?
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From the videos on Youtube we've seen, both promotional videos from Boston Dynamics and various tech nerds reviewing the robots, we've surmised that there are a number of things that Spot can do which are no small feats of technology and engineering. As seen above, Spot can walk up stairs (not an easy task for most robots). It also has dynamic motion sensors and can right itself when fallen over.
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Spot is controllable via a remote control, and can actually be manipulated from thousands of miles away. With a camera on its front, you can see what the robot sees, much like a live video feed. With this feature, plus Spot's hardiness, we're guessing that the Boston Dynamics peeps intended for Spot to scope out places that people themselves don't want to (or can't) go.
Oh, and apparently if you and your fellow Spot-owner friends get together for a playdate, your Spots can pull a truck. Useful.
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One impressive feature that we're not being sarcastic about is Spot's ability to open doors (even when a human is trying hard to hinder it). This seems like the most basic task, but if you know anything about robotics technology, you'll know that it has taken many years for robots to get to this stage. Who holds doors open for people these days? This ancient art of politeness has died with the birth of Gen Zers (sorry not sorry). I, for one, think this chivalrous gesture should never die. If we have to get robots rather than kind people to open doors for us, so be it.
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Spot can also handle some pretty rocky terrain, as shown here. It can also carry items up to 14 kilograms on its back (although we're not sure how well that slim little back of its would be at balancing things). Maybe some kind of harness would help. Spot can also do backflips (VERY useful for impressing people), and the most important function below...
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Spot has some MEAN dance moves. Why is this useful? Let me paint you a scenario. You and your friend group have spontaneously broken into a dance-off with your rival dance group. You're not feeling your usual self today and your team is depending on you to whip out some killer moves to win the dance-off and claim victory. You know you're not up to winning, so what do you do? You whistle with fingers in your mouth, and Spot comes bounding to the middle of the circle, shaking its little metal booty until the rival team runs away with tears in their eyes. Victory is yours, thanks to Spot.
...or something along those lines. To summarize, if you really can't think of a better way to spend $74,500, buy Spot for some fun. If not... probably wait until Boston Dynamics comes out with a robot that's actually useful.
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