From fire-breathers to sprinters, climbers and gymnasts, we've seen more than our fair share of impressive quadruped robots. Now the fourth-generation Honey Badger has added underwater walkies to the list of robodog capabilities.
Poland's MAB Robotics was set up in 2019, after its founders emerged from a student research group and built their first robodog. The startup's Honey Badger quadruped has now gone through four iterations, and the latest has developed a taste for water.
As you can see in the video below, Honey Badger 4.0 – which was introduced earlier this year – can be seen padding along while immersed under the water at a swimming pool to demonstrate its versatility in extreme environments.
Of course, dedicated underwater drones and bots would probably navigate the shallows with more finesse, but the Honey Badger does have the advantage of subsequently emerging from the breakers and making its way up the beach to continue its mission.
The company's Jakub Bartoszek reports that "developing locomotion systems capable of navigating the challenges of underwater terrain is a fascinating journey" - though beyond dust- and waterproofing to IP54/IP67 standards mentioned in the specs, details on what that journey actually entailed are lacking.
We can confirm that the latest Honey Badger is 60 cm (23.6 in) in length, stands up to 50 cm (19/6 in) high and weighs in at 12 kg (26.4 lb). In addition to ambling under shallow water, it's reckoned good for grass, concrete and gravel.
It employs RGB and thermal cameras plus LiDAR to get around at up to 1 m/s (2.24 mph), and is equipped with a gas sensor. There's a 6-Ah Li-ion battery for up to 2 hours of cable-free operation, the robot operates on the ROS2 platform, is capable of hauling a payload of up to 2 kg, and can be controlled remotely through 5G or a fiber-optic cable.
Previous versions rocking a jointed spine have been shipped off to universities for research purposes, and others have undertaken inspection duties at industrial sites in Poland as well as getting inside heating distribution tunnels and water/sewage canals in Poznań city. Development continues.
Source: MAB Robotics
