Boston Dynamics revealed plans to launch commercial sales of its Spot robot last year, and after an eventful interim that saw it leased out for work on oil rigs and a New Zealand farm, the dog-like quadruped is now available to buy via the company’s website.
The capabilities of Spot the robot have improved dramatically over the past few years. Since Boston Dynamics gave it a makeover in 2017, we’ve seen Spot open doors for its robotic friends, dance and twerk, and even team up with fellow Spots to tow a truck through a parking lot.
Boston Dynamics announced it was opening up sales of the robot last year, but has eased its four-legged machine into life as a commercial product. A number of early adopters have since leased the robot for a range of interesting uses, however.
These include using its stereo camera and obstacle avoidance systems to detect gas leaks on a Norwegian oil rig, using remote operation capabilities to herd sheep on a farm in New Zealand and using its cameras to enforce social distancing at a park in Singapore.
From today, any company wanting to add Spot to their fleet of workers can do so, at a hefty cost of US$75,000. That price includes a spare battery, charger, a carry case and the tablet controller and charger. While Spot is designed to work right out of the box, its Software Development Kit can still be leveraged by developers to equip it with all kinds of new skills, such as navigating dangerous environments or lugging around payloads.
In this way, it is still very much intended for industrial or commercial settings, with the company noting that Spot is not certified for use at home.
The launch promo video below offers a look at Spot in action.
Source: Boston Dynamics