It's likely that every time you hear " Boston Dynamics ," a shiver runs down your spine. And with good reason. The company has managed to creep into our worst nightmares by creating robots that either look uncanny like us or display some rather unusual abilities. Today, we'll only fuel that unease with a new video of their robot dogs.
Boston Dynamics, changing our idea of ​​what robots can do
Every so often, a new video arrives from Boston Dynamics ' offices in Massachusetts, showcasing the progress of the company's robots. Their videos have become incredibly popular due to the tasks these robots perform and the different forms they can take, as well as the touch of humor they sometimes add—their performance of one of their quadrupeds dancing to Bruno Mars' "Uptown Funk" is pure gold. And that's precisely the company's goal: "to change our perception of what robots can do," a motto they proudly uphold.
Boston Dynamics is an engineering and robotics company specializing, as we mentioned, in building robots. It was founded in 1992 by Marc Raibert , an engineer and professor at the renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and acquired in late 2013 by Google X (a division of Alphabet). The company has been heavily focused on robotics research for military purposes, even receiving funding from the Pentagon.
A couple of years ago, the Japanese company SoftBank made a bold move and acquired the company, paying, according to Financial Times sources , $100 million, although to this day this figure has never been confirmed.
Boston Dynamics currently boasts a broad and diverse portfolio of mechanical robots. The company offers BigDog , SpotMini , WildCat , and SanFlea , among others, though perhaps the most famous of all is Atlas , due to its resemblance to the human body.
Atlas is a 1,83-meter-tall bipedal humanoid robot designed for search and rescue operations. It is capable of navigating rugged terrain and outdoor environments. In recent videos released by the company, it has demonstrated highly developed capabilities in skills such as pushing, jumping, and turning without losing stability. A slightly shorter version exists, but it is just as imposing as its larger counterpart. Seeing it in action evokes mixed feelings of fascination and fear in many people.
The latest: SpotMini robots pulling a truck
We've said that Atlas gives off a pretty creepy vibe , but SpotMini (yes, the one that dances to Bruno Mars songs) is no slouch either. This four-legged robot is a kind of mechanical dog, weighing only 25 kg and with a battery life of about 90 minutes. Last year, a video of this robot opening a door to let another "companion" in went viral, becoming the most-viewed video on YouTube at the time. If you see it, you'll definitely know what we're talking about.
And the new video starring SpotMini looks set to achieve a similar record. In the company's latest recording, a legion of these robotic dogs ( ten in total ) can be seen marching down a road, something that is already surprising in itself, but takes on almost epic proportions when you see what they are actually doing: pulling a truck that they move with ease. The vehicle is in neutral and on the terrain—it's a road with a slight incline, the company explains.
Boston Dynamics actually released this video to confirm the progress of its production line. According to the company, its "spots" are almost ready and will soon be available for a multitude of purposes. As long as none of those purposes involve rebelling against humans, we assume everything will be fine.