A robotic dog from Boston Dynamics has appeared in SpaceX’s Texas Boca Chica complex, which is developing the Starship spacecraft. Although SpaceX is still silent about its true purpose, it is clear from its holding that the center is not just for entertaining technology enthusiasts.
Its capabilities surpass its human counterparts and can be useful for a wide range of companies. For example, he was recently seen in Chernobyl, where he mapped radiation.
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Clever robotics will become a key engine of the next phase of the information revolution. SoftBank chief Masayoshi said the words when he bought Boston Dynamics from Alphabet three years ago. He then described this and its founder and boss Marc Raibert as “clear leaders in the field of advanced dynamic robots.”
However, SoftBank’s problematic investments are likely to lead the owner of Boston Dynamics to change again soon. According to Bloomberg sources, the Korean carmaker Hyundai has already shown interest in the “robofirm”.
Robotic dog
Boston Dynamics develops robots that mimic human and animal movements. The humanoid Atlas model can even coordinate and balance its movements on its own, and can lift itself after a fall.
The company also cooperates with the US military in the development of robots. “Newcomers” in the form of robops are highly praised by soldiers. The military could replace robots with up to a quarter of its men.
For Hyundai, it would make sense to cooperate in the field of logistics robots, for which demand has grown at an unprecedented rate during a pandemic.
Probably the most famous product of this company is the robotic dog Spot. Its possibilities of use could already be seen in Chernobyl at the end of October. At the site of the nuclear power plant accident, which exploded in 1986 and contaminated the entire area with radiation, he helps to create a 3D map of radiation. Thanks to Spot, scientists can stay safe and just check where the radiation level is.
Work for Muska
Another Spot then works for technology entrepreneur and visionary Elon Musek. At the SpaceX development center near Boca Chica Beach in Texas, USA, where Musk’s people are working hard on the Starship spacecraft. The giant spacecraft has managed to transport a hundred passengers on long-haul flights into space, who should fly to the moon, Mars and perhaps even further.
Residents who live near the complex and thus see the events there were attracted to a red hut near the launch pad this summer. The mystery of its purpose was soon unraveled by a video of a resident documenting what was happening around the space center.
One of his video cameras captured a SpaceX employee “walking” the dog. Although it is a very low-quality video, it is clear from it that it is a Boston Spot, although it was named Zeus in Boca Chica, as can be read from the inscription on his shed.
Helper for difficult conditions
This is just another proof of how Boston Dynamics manages to offer Spot for commercial use. According to the company’s website, it is already used by a number of companies in America and Europe. And the price? Only $ 75,000.
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The company has reportedly sold more than 250 of these robops. In addition to SpaceX, the German company Merck in Darmstadt, for example, also has its “pet”, where Spot helps to improve the efficiency of industrial processes. Another is also used by the mining company BP or the Austrian construction group Strabag.
Due to the fact that it is not a living creature, Spot can move in an environment that is risky for humans or in which, due to conditions such as high heat or chemical contamination, it could not even be.
Key data collector
The robotic dog is useful for every company, at least in terms of collecting an inexhaustible amount of data.
Specifically in SpaceX, it is useful due to the 360-degree panoramic camera that monitors the entire launch pad. Its sensitive sensors can then detect anomalies in the sounds, which – as the Czech company Blindspot, for example, shows us – usually indicate a certain fault.
Zeus is also equipped with sensors for temperature control or detection of any cracks and leaks. Its advantage is that, unlike humans, it can move close to the ramp during the test itself. And during Starship testing, cryogenic pressure tests had already led to a nitrogen leak and a subsequent explosion of the stainless steel ship.
But if these things are the real reason why SpaceX bought this robops, we can only guess. The company itself has not yet clarified what task Zeus performs for it.
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