Named “Spot,” the quadruped robot from developers Boston Dynamics has been on the cutting edge of canine-like robots for several years now. Its newest trick is a triple backflip.
While there isn’t a great deal of utility in a triple backflip, the technical challenge demonstrates advanced precision. A robot that can nail a triple backflip can navigate hazardous environments and get back up when it’s knocked over.
The first attempt did not go so successfully. As the video shows, Spot ended up stuck on its back like a beetle. Photo: Screenshot/Boston Dynamics
Training Spot is “like training a dog”
Arun Kumar, a robotics engineer who works on Spot, claimed the development process can be similar to training an actual dog. Engineers teach Spot tricks through reinforcement learning. They repeatedly ask it to achieve a result or perform a task, and reward it when it succeeds. Robot dogs have no desires or joys, so while a dog might get a treat, Spot gets a few lines of code affirming that it has achieved the desired outcome.
That stage, however, is just the software part. Once Spot has learned how to theoretically perform a triple backflip, the physical machinery has to be able to perform the required movements. The hardware deployment, Kumar admits, “never works the first time.”
Tricks like the triple backflip force engineers to push their creations. These experiments help them find the limits and flaws that wouldn’t be revealed by simpler, more practical tasks.
Spot mid-backflip, looking a bit like a plucked chicken if you squint. Photo: Screenshot/Boston Dynamics
Is the robot dog part of our future?
Over a thousand robot-dog models have been deployed worldwide, for things like search and rescue, police work, and even airport wildlife safety. But as they become more advanced and more common, many people express concerns about this technology.
Part of the backlash was emotional. Many find the quadruped robots creepy and are reminded of science fiction dystopias. Picture the terrifying mechanical hound used by law enforcement to chase down the protagonist of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, for example. But there were also practical concerns.
Spot has been adopted by several police departments in the United States, provoking backlash. With ballooning budgets and increasing protests against police militarization, many residents objected to spending $75,000 of taxpayers’ money on each robot dog.
These objections only increased once police forces deployed the bots. In 2021, public pressure made the NYPD return their Spot. New Yorkers had significant concerns about its use to surveil and police underprivileged neighborhoods. The NYPD has since re-purchased several Spots from Boston Dynamics.
Boston Dynamics has pledged not to militarize its general-use products, but there is no law preventing them from changing their minds. After all, they originally developed the technology that became Spot in 2005, under contract with the U.S. Department of Defense. For now, the technology is only used for things like surveillance, yet drones were also originally designed for surveillance. Time will tell.
