- General
- July 22, 2018
- 5 minutes read
Boston Dynamics prepares to churn out 1000 robots annually beginning from next year
image credit : Boston Dynamics Softbank owned Robot manufacturer Boston Dynamics is now preparing to deliver its products for commercial…
image credit : Boston Dynamics
Softbank owned Robot manufacturer Boston Dynamics is now preparing to deliver its products for commercial use as the company which announced its intentions to take its agile and smart robots to the mainstream market is now geared towards producing its SpotMini (pictured above) robot at the rate of around 1,000 units per year according to its founder Marc Raibert who leads the company’s efforts currently.
Raibert states the SpotMini which is just one of its several robots is currently being tested for application and use in various tasks including use in delivery, security, home assistance and construction purposes.
“We’ve built ten by hand, we’re building 100 with manufacturers at the end of this year, and at the end of 2019, we’re going to begin production at the rate of about 1,000 a year,” said Raibert with the company also aiming to make its product as a popular open-source platform which provides more innovation and foundation for further robotics startups to build upon.
Boston Dynamics’ main product line-up currently includes the SpotMini, Atlas, Spot and Handle with all of them having various intelligent and agile abilities performing tasks like delivering goods, opening doors, moving around, surveillance and several other activities.
Boston traces its origin back to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where the company was spun-off and worked on by former MIT and also Carnegie Mellon University professor Marc Raibert along with a group of colleagues.
Boston Dynamics was later acquired by Google in 2013 before being sold to Softbank last year.
Concerning its features, Boston states “SpotMini is a small four-legged robot that comfortably fits in an office or home. It weighs 25 kg (30 kg if you include the arm). SpotMini is all-electric and can go for about 90 minutes on a charge, depending on what it is doing. SpotMini is the quietest robot we have built.”
It continues “SpotMini inherits all of the mobility of its bigger brother, Spot, while adding the ability to pick up and handle objects using its 5 degree-of-freedom arm and beefed up perception sensors. The sensor suite includes stereo cameras, depth cameras, an IMU, and position/force sensors in the limbs. These sensors help with navigation and mobile manipulation.”
With the robotics industry being a very rapidly growing and adoptive one, We’ll get to see how Boston’s earmarked commercial products would get into the hands of consumers and the many ways they’ll be applied to perform various tasks.
