SpotMini hopes to be your robotic-canine pal for all those menial house duties.
Google’s holding company, Alphabet, has a new robotic dog from its Atlas-making Boston Dynamics subsidiary capable of clearing up after its human masters.
SpotMini is the quietest and smallest Boston Dynamics robot yet, designed to navigate within the tight confines of a home and able to shimmy under tables and pick up objects with its articulated arm.
Most of Boston Dynamics’ other robots, including the humanoid Atlas and large L3 packhorse have been bulky, dirty and noisy, designed to operate outdoors and on variable terrain.
The new small robotic dog takes the design of Spot and shrinks it, adding a new articulating arm to its back, which is capable of lifting and holding objects as fragile as a glass. It weighs 29.5kg (65lbs) with its arm attached and will run for about 90 minutes between charges.
SpotMini can also climb stairs and navigate around the various obstacles such as chairs, pick itself up when it slips on a banana skin and pass you a can of drink, even if it struggles to let go.
For years, house-bots have been the stuff of science fiction, but now they’re starting to become a possibility. SpotMini is the closest anyone’s got to a robot that’s physically helpful around the house.
Dreams of a Google robot, however, might be premature, as Alphabet is reportedly in the process of trying to sell Boston Dynamics after the US military rejected its robots.