On Episode 3 of The Robot Report Podcast, Boston Dynamics discusses launching Spot and we catch up with Universal Robots President Jürgen von Hollen.
Spot’s commercial availability a milestone for quadrupeds
Nine months after the limited release of its Spot, Boston Dynamics today made the quadruped robot commercially available in the U.S. for $74,500.
Rocos to add remote management to Boston Dynamics’ Spot robot
Boston Dynamics has built partnerships to add capabilities to its Spot quadruped robot. The Rocos cloud-based management platform allows for greater autonomy as well as remote control.
Boston Dynamics’ Spot 2.0 features improved autonomy and mobility
Boston Dynamics has updated the software for its Spot quadruped robot, now Spot 2.0, adding capabilities for different environmental challenges such as stairs.
Vinsa to build visual AI workflows with Boston Dynamics’ Spot quadruped robot
Boston Dynamics has partnered with Vinsa to build models for visual AI workflows using its Spot quadruped robot.
Dr. Spot the robot dog now seeing COVID-19 patients
Simplicity doesn’t typically come to mind when thinking about Boston Dynamics and how it engineers its robots. But the newest application for its Spot quadruped could be the simplest, yet most valuable use yet. Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, one of the world’s leading hospital’s, has been using Spot for the last week as…
Open Robotics and Boston Dynamics join the ARM Institute
Mobile robot innovator Boston Dynamics and ROS developer Open Robotics have joined the ARM Institute. ARM is working to advance U.S. manufacturing through automation and workforce development.
Watch how much Boston Dynamics’ bipedal robots improved in 10 years
10 years of progress in Boston Dynamics robotics. pic.twitter.com/m0NwlEbBXO — Wonder of Science (@wonderofscience) March 12, 2020 Admittedly, the video above is old. But it’s making the rounds again on social media and, frankly, it’s too astonishing to not share. The video shows capabilities of Boston Dynamics’ humanoid robots in 2009 and 2019 side-by-side. On the…
OTTO, Boston Dynamics Handle demo future of warehouse robotics
Boston Dynamics and OTTO Motors are demoing their vision of the future of logistics automation. In a video released today, which you can watch above, Boston Dynamics’ Handle robot can be seen picking boxes and building pallets on top of OTTO’s autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) in a test environment that resembles a distribution center. Handle…
Watch Spot robot pull Adam Savage in rickshaw
Rickshaws are wheeled passenger carts that were invented in Japan in the late 1800s. Initially, the rickshaws were pulled by a human. But over time cycle rickshaws (pedicabs), auto rickshaws, and electric rickshaws were invented. It appears we’re on the verge of yet another new type of rickshaw: robo-rickshaws. Former MythBusters host Adam Savage has…
Boston Dynamics open-sources Spot SDK; Raibert steps down as CEO
If you are a roboticist, chances are you have always wanted to tinker with any of Boston Dynamics’ robots. The Softbank-owned company trying to make those dreams come true by making its Spot SDK publicly available on GitHub. This will allow developers to build custom applications that enable Spot to do useful tasks across a…
SpotWalk brings robots to construction sites in HoloBuilder partnership with Boston Dynamics
Boston Dynamics has partnered with HoloBuilder and other companies to combine its Spot robot with HoloBuilder’s software for the SpotWalk service to gather valuable project data at construction sites.
China’s robotics market: A look ahead to 2020
The global robotics market will continue to be affected by China’s manufacturing slowdown and trade tensions with the U.S., says international analyst Georg Stieler as he looks ahead to 2020.
Spot strides onto the market, as Boston Dynamics’ Atlas gets acrobatic
After years of popular online videos, Boston Dynamics has made its Spot quadruped robot available for commercial lease and application development.
Robotics investments recap: April 2019
Despite a few high-profile failures, robotics investments kept going strong in April 2019, with funding flowing to companies working on self-driving cars, supply chain automation, and robots in healthcare.
Watch 10 Boston Dynamics SpotMini robots pull a truck
In a YouTube video posted Tuesday titled “Mush, Spot Mush!,” Boston Dynamics showed off the strength of its SpotMini quadrupeds. The video, which at press time had already been viewed more than 260,000 times, shows 10 SpotMini robots pulling a truck across the company’s parking lot. According to Boston Dynamics, the parking lot is slopped…
Automate/ProMat 2019: 10 takeaways for robotics developers
Collaborative robots, mobile platforms, and the enabling hardware and software were all on display at Automate/ProMat, but what was new and noteworthy?
Boston Dynamics enters logistics market with Kinema Systems acquisition
The Robot Report heard rumors about this over the last few days, but today it’s been confirmed. Boston Dynamics acquired Kinema Systems, a Menlo Park, Calif.-based startup that uses vision sensors and deep-learning software to help robots manipulate boxes. Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed. As part of the acquisition, Kinema’s Pick system…
Boston Dynamics’ Handle robot brings mobile manipulation to logistics
Holy mobile manipulation, Batman! Boston Dynamics just released a new video of its reimagined Handle robot. The Waltham, Mass.-based company is now calling Handle a “mobile manipulation robot designed for logistics. Handle autonomously performs mixed SKU pallet building and depalletizing after initialization and localizing against the pallets.” Handle uses an on-board vision system to track…
Humanoid robots: Five to watch in 2019
Building humanoid robots that can do useful things in the real world, not just research labs, is very difficult. Besides being extremely expensive to build and buy, bipedal locomotion is the major hurdle robotics developers have yet to perfect. Quadruped robots such as Boston Dynamics’ SpotMini and ANYbotics’ ANYmal are more stable walkers and, therefore,…
Watch Boston Dynamics Spot robot inspect construction sites
As always, the internet is abuzz about Boston Dynamics latest videos. And rightfully so. In the video above, the Atlas humanoid robot is doing parkour, jumping across a multi-layered platform and shifting its weight between feet. It’s incredible to watch and adds another athletic feat to the humanoid robot’s repertoire. From the video description: “The…
Legged Robots: What To Expect in 2019
2019 will be the year of commercial class legged robots. That was the message delivered by Agility Robotics and Boston Dynamics during their respective opening and closing keynotes at the inaugural Robotics Summit & Showcase, produced by The Robot Report and WTWH Media in Boston. Agility Robotics CEO and co-founder Damion Shelton updated attendees on…