See Boston Dynamics’ Spot robot dog play jump rope and pick up laundry

They Dance. They explore the mines. They help medical workers. Boston Dynamics’ Spot robot dogs are constantly learning new tricks, and they now have a whole range of fresh movements thanks to a robotic arm and a new programming interface.

Boston Dynamics released a video on Monday showing what Spot can do with its robotic arm system. The arm mounts to the front of the robot and is capable of certain fine motor operations such as digging a hole for a plant and making chalk drawings.

“Now that Spot has an arm in addition to the legs and cameras, he can perform mobile manipulations,” Boston Dynamics said. “He finds and collects objects (garbage cans), tidies the living room, opens the doors, operates switches and valves, takes care of the garden and generally has fun.

Each new Spot video adds to the impressive summary of the robot’s capabilities. Perhaps the most revealing video footage is three spots playing jump rope with the robots on each end spinning the rope perfectly in sync with each other.

The basic Spot robot is available with optional add-ons, including a tablet controller and lidar system. The Spot Arm video is a preview of what could happen with Boston Dynamics launching an expanded line of Spot products on February 2. You can watch the live stream of the reveal event starting at 8 a.m. PT Tuesday.

The company promises that it will “extend the value of Spot for autonomous inspection and data collection.”

Don’t be surprised to see more spots in nature. After years of development and testing, Spot finally went on sale in mid-2020 for $ 74,500. Yes, it’s a lot, but did you know he can jump rope?

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