For those who hate cleaning up their house, Boston Dynamics has good news. The company thinks it will ‘someday’ sell its four-legged Spot robot for home use, and is thinking specifically of cleaning a house.
Boston Dynamics still has a few steps to take before the robot can be sold for home use. The first step is to use one arm. The company first showed this arm over two years ago. According to Boston Dynamics founder Marc Raibert, it is now almost ready for sale. In a few months, companies should be able to buy the robotic arm, he said at the Collision from Home conference. This turns the robot into a ‘mobile manipulation system’ and extends Spot’s capabilities. Raibert, for example, shows how Spot opens a door with the arm and switches an industrial fuse switch on and off.
However, this arm also offers opportunities for consumers. For example, Boston Dynamics is currently running a project in which Spot cleans up a house independently. Raibert shows a Spot standing in a bedroom, with clothes scattered on the floor. Spot sees the clothes with his camera system and uses cloud computing to identify whether an object should be there or not. When Spot identifies dirty laundry, it uses the robotic arm to pick up a piece of clothing and place it in the laundry basket, which is placed on its back. This process is without interaction with Boston Dynamics.
Spot’s capabilities are not limited to the bedroom. Boston Dynamics has a project underway where the four-legged friend is cleaning up a kitchen. For example, he picks up a glass and automatically places it in the dishwasher, without squeezing it, and throws an empty can in the garbage can. In another project, Spot is used as a parcel robot. Here he picks up a box from the parcel deliverer who then drives down the street. Raibert calls this especially useful in connection with the coronavirus, because you do not have to wonder whether the parcel deliverer has adhered to all measures.
Although Boston Dynamics has already come up with specific cases for home use of Spot, the consumer introduction of the robot still seems a long way off. Raibert did not give an indication of when Spot will be available to consumers. It will probably not immediately be intended for the masses, because Spot, formerly known as SpotMini, has been on sale for American companies since this month and costs 74,500 euros. Converted and including VAT, that is 80,318 euros and then you don’t even have that robot arm, so you will still have to clean up your laundry yourself.