Four-legged robot Boston Dynamics went on sale

BostonDynamicshasannouncedthatthefour–leggedSpotrobotisnowavailableforpurchasebyanyAmericancompany, notjustselectedorganizations. Thecostoftherobotis $74500, andthedeliverytimeissixtoeightweeks. Additionalsensorsandcomputingunitscanbepurchasedwiththerobot.

Initially, BostonDynamicsdevelopedfour–leggedrobotsforthemilitary. Thisdesignwassupposedtomakethemmuchmorepracticalforoperationsonuneventerrain, suchasinthemountains. However, afterthetests, theAmericanmilitaryabandonedtheideaofusingfour–leggedrobots, afterwhichthecompanyswitchedtocommercialdevelopment. SpotisthefirstcommercialrobotfromBostonDynamics, thecurrentversionofwhichwasintroducedin2017 (thencalledSpotMini). Ithasfourlegsdrivenbyelectricmotors, manyvisualsensorsonallfoursides, andanadapterontheback, whichcanbeattachedtoaroboticarmoranythird–partyequipment – forthispurposethecompanyreleasedanSDKearlierthisyear.

Initiallyin2019, thecompanybegansmall–scaleproductionofSpot, butonlyprojectsapprovedbythecompanyitselfwereavailable. Inaddition, atthetime, shewasonlyleasingrobots. BostonDynamicshasnowlaunchedanonlinestoreonitswebsitethatsellsboththerobotandtheequipmentandservicesforit. AtthemomentthepurchaseisavailableonlyforcompaniesintheUSA, buttherearenoadditionalrestrictions.

Intheusualversion, therobotcosts $74.5thousand, anditisalsonecessarytoleavearefundabledepositofathousanddollars. Inthiscase, thecustomercanorderseveralrobotsatonce. Atthefirststageofsales, theshippingcostisincludedintheprice, anditsdurationisfromsixtoeightweeks. Inadditiontotherobot, thekitincludestwobatterypacks, charging, remotecontrol, casesandsoftware. Youcanalsobuyadditionalcomputingunits, sensorblocks, includingthosewithlidar, aswellasextendedsupportinthestore. However, therobotsthatBostonDynamicspreviouslyplannedtoprovideasanoptionarenotavailableinthestore.

Similarindesign, butsmallerinsize, therobotisalsoproducedbytheChinesecompanyUnitreeRobotics. InMaysheannouncedthedevelopmentofanewversion, whichshouldcostlessthan10thousanddollars. Alsoafour–leggedrobotforcommercialusewasdevelopedbyANYbotics, butitspriceisstillunknown.