We see a lot of concepts in this industry. Lots of big ideas, silly gimmicks, and the promise of things to come. So when some nugget of technology does materialise in the real world to be used in real things, it's a nice surprise.
You'll remember us talking about Boston Dynamics - those yellow robot dog things - a couple of months ago, and how the company has been acquired by Hyundai. Its goal was to help "enable progress for humanity", which again sounds promising - but what exactly they were going to be used for except funny YouTube videos was still to be seen.
It's exciting, then, to see that Spot and team are finally being let off the leash and put to work, taking on a pilot operation at Kia's factory in South Korea to help with site safety.
The 'Factory Safety Service Robot' - don't think that'll fit on the collar - is complete with AI, autonomous navigation, teleoperational technologies and a computing payload developed by the Robotics Lab, meaning it can now complete actual helpful tasks.
For example, a thermal camera and some sort of laser can detect people, high-temperature apparatus and even monitor fire situations, broadcasting all the data and live video back to the bosses in an office somewhere else. Their usual tricks of opening and closing doors still remains, too. The AI tech is programmed to detect other dangers and warning signs - a bit like a big, metal canary down a mine shaft - and the operators can regain control whenever needed to take matters into their own hands.
Understanding the capabilities of these things can be a little tricky, but helpfully, there's another creepy video that shows the future demise of the human employment and use. Anyway, happy Friday fellow robot underling.
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