Boston Dynamics, the team in Massachusetts, recently shared a video. It shows their robot, Spot, doing endless backflips. It moves with the skill of an Olympic gymnast. Well, almost.
The video also reveals Spot’s early, less-than-perfect attempts. The robot failed the move, ending up sprawled on the floor.
Spot is a Robot Still Learning Its Limits
It is very unlikely this four-legged robot will ever need to do such a trick in real life. However, these backflips show Spot’s amazing versatility. They also show how Boston Dynamics pushes the robot to its limits. This helps them refine and improve its design.
The video also gives insight into how the team wants to make Spot the best four-legged robot possible. Robotics engineer Arun Kumar shared his thoughts:
Obviously, doing a backflip isn’t something our customers need. But sometimes, we have to use the motors and power system to their maximum potential.
Kumar explained that Spot sometimes carries heavy loads in industrial settings. If it slips or trips while walking, it must recover quickly. This prevents damage to itself or its cargo.
Backflip training does more than just show potential ways Spot might fail in different moves. It also helps the team create ways for the robot to recover from those mistakes.
My team didn’t even think Spot could do a backflip from a standing position. That was before I started working on it.
So, it took Spot some time. We had to operate at the hardware’s limits. Also, the robot’s movements change when pushed to the edge. We need to model this in simulations.
Boston Dynamics’ Hardware Continues to Impress
Kumar added that once something works in a simulation, they test it on the actual robot. He noted it never works perfectly on the first try. This forces the team to solve the problems.
Then we repeat the cycle. Test on the hardware. Find the next failure. Debug. Fix. Test on the hardware. The more we do this, the more reliable the behaviors become.
Spot became available for businesses to buy in 2020. Since then, it has been tested for various jobs. These include mapping factories at Ford. It also performs safety inspections at a Kia plant. Dominion Energy uses it for radiation measurements.
Who knows? Maybe in a few years, Spot will have a “friendly” price. Then it could become one of our smart home devices.