The robot dog Spot becomes a police officer and already patrols the streets of New York

Spot, Boston’s famous quadruped robot Dynamic, now also helps patrol the streets of New York. This model has made headlines several times for the novel uses given to it. Last year, for example, in the context of the pandemic, it was used to aid remote medical checks at hospitals in the United States and to help users maintain recommended social distancing in Singapore parks.

In this case, from the New York Post newspaper, they shared footage of the robot dog moving through the streets of the Bronx, as part of a home search that was carried out in that area due to an ongoing investigation. . The quadruped, in shades of blue and black, moves quickly in the street, accompanying the police.

The robot, which is currently in the test phase, is equipped with lights and cameras that transmit in real time. It also has a siren and a loudspeaker from which alert messages can be emitted if necessary. The model weighs around 31 kilos and can travel up to 5 km / h.

“This dog will save lives, protect people and protect officers, and that is our goal,” said Frank Digiacomo, inspector of the NYPD Technical Assistance Response Unit, according to the portal.

Also to explore Mars?

As part of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Annual Conference, which took place in mid-December 2020, NASA / JPL-Caltech researchers unveiled a novel to explore and learn more about the corners hiding places of Mars which involves the use of autonomous Spot-based quadrupeds.

The specialists presented their “Martian Dogs” (MD), which are four-legged robots, as the next evolution in planetary exploration. The prototype, which is called Au-Spot and is already in the training phase, is an agile system that seeks to explore surfaces that are difficult to access. The robots are light, compact and fast compared to the Perseverance: they have 2.6% volume, 4.6% mass than this vehicle and are 38 times faster, as explained in the presentation.

One of the reasons it was thought to use this type of device is that due to its structure they have a greater ability to move easily in difficult terrain, they have a greater ability to recover and maneuver than the Rovers currently used by NASA.

These vehicles are mostly confined to flat surfaces, but many scientifically interesting regions on Mars are only accessible after traversing very rugged and sloping terrain. Robot walking dogs are suitable for this type of surface and if they fall they can be lifted easily.

And also they dance

At the end of December, a video was released showing the Spot, Atlas and Handle models moving to the beat of the song “Do you love me?” It was a clip that quickly went viral due to the flexibility and coordination of movement exhibited by these three Boston Dynamics bots.

MORE ON THIS TOPIC: