Robot maker Boston Dynamics has decided to put its four-legged robot Spot on sale. The company spent a lot of time developing this robot and even leased it to businesses last year to see how well it was performing. After conducting tests, Boston Dynamics says that it is ready for sale and will be available to any US firm for $74,500.

Source: Boston Dynamics

Now the price is quite high and almost equals that of a luxury Tesla Model S. However, according to the company, the robot Spot is equipped with the latest technology and can carry out tasks like any other human being.

Even though the advancement of the robot has been proved through tests, right now Spot is being used to collect surveys and conduct data analysis. When the company carried out trials, we saw that Spot could create 3D maps of construction sites and detect machine faults in offshore oil rigs. It could also help hospitals triage COVID-19 patients and more importantly, it is also working with a police bomb squad.

Source: Boston Dynamics

Boston Dynamics states that Spot is a multipurpose "mobility platform” so companies can install their own sensors and programs to make it efficient.

“We mostly sell the robot to industrial and commercial customers who have a sensor they want to take somewhere they don’t want a person to go,” Boston Dynamics’ lead robotics engineer, Zack Jackowski, told The Verge last week. “Usually because it’s dangerous or because they need to do it so often that it would drive someone mad. Like carrying a camera around a factory 40 times a day and taking the same pictures each time.”

The engineers will take feedback from the customers after the robot is used by them to see which part requires an update. The feature that is recently being worked on by Boston Dynamics is remote teleoperation. The company is providing a demo version to all potential clients so they can take a test drive and see why it is an essential part of the system.

Boston Dynamics’ vice president of business development, Michael Perry, told The Verge, “some of the customers we’re speaking to are in the ‘shut up and take my money’ mode. But others say, ‘I’m interested in Spot, but I want to come to your lab and drive a robot or for you to come visit me.’” This is why teleportation is on Boston Dynamics’ agenda.

Source: Boston Dynamics

However, just like with any other robotic system, Spot also comes with the danger of being misused for firearms and terrorism. Questions were raised about the robot’s 3D feature and what if the printer is used by organizations to create bombs. “If there’s a harmful use, then the license would be invalidated, and the customer wouldn’t be able to use the robot,” says Perry. “But obviously, there’s not a lot that we can do ahead of time beyond validating that the purchase is valid and that the person buying the robot is not on the Department of Commerce watch list or anything along those lines.”

Perry also says that the company might consider selling Spot to security firms or any other organization that deals with arms but they need to be thorough about the use. “So long as the robot’s not being used to harm or intimidate people,” he says.“If you want to buy more than two robots, our team wants to talk to you because we want to understand what you want to do with the robot.”