Spot the Robot Dog: A Roaming Data Collector

Caleb Sylvester, Industrial Sales Manager at Boston Dynamics

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You've seen Spot the Robot Dog on YouTube and in Superbowl commercials. Now we're talking with an expert from Boston Dynamics about how this emerging field of legged robotics is bringing Industry 4.0 to life for users.

Caleb Sylvester is an industrial applications sales manager for Boston Dynamics. He travels the globe helping customers find creative applications for robots like Spot to solve challenges like never before.

We talked with Caleb live at IMTS 2022 where Boston Dynamics and Spot had an engaging presence to learn more about this new era in robotics.

3 Big Takeaways from this episode:

  1. Boston Dynamics is helping to shape human-robot interaction (HRI): Manufacturing is used to seeing 6-axis arms, delta and SCARA robots. But robots are emerging in new shapes and applications, including quadripeds like Spot the Robot Dog and Atlas the humanoid bipedal robot from Boston Dynamics. The company is investing research and marketing efforts into this concept of HRI, or human-robot interaction, helping people understand how to interact with robots as they become a more common part of our world.
  2. Spot the Robot Dog is a roaming data collector: Data is king in Industry 4.0, but traditional methods of collecting data are time- and capital-intensive, like attaching sensors to ever motor, pump and bearing, or having a person walk around manually gathering data. By attaching those same sensors to Spot, the robot can autonomously walk a facility, gathering the same critical data and enabling humans to do more interesting work.
  3. Quadripedal robotics are making work safer and more efficient: We discuss fascinating applications for Spot the Robot Dog. Some examples include thermal and camera sensing to detect trends and anomalies for preventative and predictive maintenance, as well as sending the robot into potentially dangerous areas to do hazardous material detection.

Resources

To learn more about Boston Dynamics, visit: https://www.bostondynamics.com/

Boston Dynamics is well known for its intriguing videos, so be sure to check out their YouTube channel!

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