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Boston Dynamics’ robot dog Spot equipped with ChatGPT to allow conversations with human companions

2023-05-04T11:39:00-04:00

Florida-based AI solutions company Levatas has equipped Boston Dynamics’ famous robot dog Spot with ChatGPT and Google’s Text-to-Speech model, allowing the robot to answer questions about past and future missions. Humans can talk to the adapted Spot model using normal language commands, with Spot able to instantly parse high volumes of information and use insights from the data to answer questions.

“These robots run automated missions every day,” tweeted machine learning engineer Santiago Valdarrama, who worked on the project. “Each mission uses miles-long, hard-to-understand configuration files. Only technical people can handle them. At the end of each mission, the robots capture a ton of data. There's no simple way to query all of it on demand. That's where ChatGPT comes in. We show it the configuration files and the mission results. We then ask questions using that context. Put that together with a voice-enabled interface, and we have an awesome way to query our data!”

We integr...

Boston Dynamics’ humanoid robot Atlas lends a hand on the construction site

2023-01-19T11:49:00-05:00

Boston Dynamics has released a new video showcasing the capabilities of their humanoid robot Atlas. The one-minute-long YouTube video is set within a mock-up construction site, with Atlas seen assisting a human construction worker on scaffolding.

Playfully titled ‘Atlas Gets a Grip,’ the video shows Atlas moving a timber plank around the mock-up site before picking up a tool bag to toss up to a construction worker on an elevated single-story scaffolding platform. As with past Boston Dynamic videos, Atlas ends the sequence in style by performing a backflip off a wooden crate.

Video via Boston Dynamics on YouTube

Entertainment value aside, the video offers an insight into the evolving capabilities of Boston Dynamics’ humanoid robot and its ability to manipulate the world around it. By interacting with objects and modifying its surroundings in pursuit of a defined goal, the company seeks to demonstrate the evolving ability of robots to assist in heavy-duty human tasks, including compl...

Foster + Partners explores using robot dog on construction sites

2020-11-11T12:18:00-05:00

Foster + Partners has been exploring the use of Spot®, the robot 'dog' that can meander through construction sites to capture and monitor project progress. The architecture firm's involvement comes as part of Boston Dynamics' Early Adopter Program. Foster + Partners' Applied Research + Development group (ARD) has been working with Boston Dynamics to investigate the potential benefits of using Spot to capture changes on a regular basis, allowing the team to "easily compare the 'as=designed' models against the 'as=built' reality."

Spot can be controlled remotely and is capable of autonomously following a pre-mapped route while avoiding obstacles.

Martha Tsigkari, Partner, Foster + Partners said in a statement, "The ability of Spot to repeatedly and effortlessly complete routine scans, in an ever-changing environment was invaluable not only in terms of the consistency but also the large amount of high-quality data collected. Through this process we developed a sequence of scans that ma...

Autonomous robot dog deployed at Denver construction site

2020-05-28T19:15:00-04:00

After months of testing by multiple general contractors, Boston Dynamics’ Spot the robot dog is being put to use in a real-world scenario, at the Denver International Airport’s multibillion-dollar expansion and renovation project.

According to Construction Dive, Hensel Phelps employees have used the autonomous machine to perform multiple scans at the airport's Great Hall jobsite. Using Spot Walk, an application developed by Boston Dynamics, the robot can travel the same preplanned route to document project progress on the jobsite.