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Boston Dynamics Is Gearing Up To Produce Thousands of Robot Dogs (fortune.com)

Posted by msmash on from the they-are-coming dept.

Boston Dynamics, maker of uncannily agile robots, is poised to bring its first commercial product to market -- a small, dog-like robot called the SpotMini. From a report: The launch was announced in May, and founder Marc Raibert recently said that by July of next year, Boston Dynamics will be producing the SpotMini at the rate of around 1,000 units per year. The broader goal, as reported by Inverse, is to create a flexible platform for a variety of applications. According to Raibert, SpotMini is currently being tested for use in construction, delivery, security, and home assistance applications. The SpotMini moves with the same weirdly smooth confidence as previous experimental Boston Dynamics robots with names like Cheetah, BigDog, and Spot.

9 of 83 comments (clear)

  1. Obligatory Kent Brockman by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 3, Insightful

    One thing is for certain: there is no stopping them.
    I, for one, welcome our new robot dogs overlords.

    --
    #DeleteFacebook
  2. Great ... by cascadingstylesheet · · Score: 2, Funny

    Oh great; now dog owners will all say

    "Oh, don't worry, my dog doesn't bite ... or go ruthless terminator and exterminate mankind. Not my little sweetie kins!"

  3. Re:Fahrenheit 451... by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 4, Funny

    I would be more concerned about the thoughtless owners who walk them, letting them drop little ones and zeroes all over our sidewalks.

  4. Tagged article "metalhead" by GameboyRMH · · Score: 2

    And now the circle is complete...

    --
    "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
  5. Re:Fahrenheit 451... by zmooc · · Score: 3, Interesting

    It has been done several times but is really difficult to Google.

    Nevertheless, here's one report: https://www.scmp.com/news/worl...

    --
    0x or or snor perron?!
  6. Re:Fahrenheit 451... by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 4, Funny

    "Don't worry, his bark is worse than his byte."

    --
    Ezekiel 23:20
  7. more bad links from msmash by swell · · Score: 3, Informative

    Two links- one to Fortune, one to Slashdot. Fortune rarely works for me, but right there in the article is a link to a previous, better story from Inverse, a more interesting publisher. Why Fortune and not the better article? Kickbacks?

    Where are the Youtube links? Perhaps you thought they would be superfluous in a story about clever robots?
    Inverse article: https://www.inverse.com/articl...
    Cheetah: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
    Boston Dynamics: https://www.youtube.com/channe...

    --
    ...omphaloskepsis often...
  8. Re:Woof by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 2

    You don't, but your car does.

    --
    #DeleteFacebook
  9. Dark Mirror - Metal Head by FoolishBluntman · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Has no one watched this episode of Dark Mirror on Netflix https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
    Guys (Boston Dynamics) this can't end well.