While Spot has been used by the Massachusetts police since November 2019, the Boston Dynamics robot dog is entering construction sites in Canada. Since January 31, 2020, the quadruped has been present at Place Ville Marie, a real estate complex in downtown Montreal, reveals Radio Canada. The Quebec construction company Pomerleau rented the robot for a period of six months.
Access confined or dangerous areas
Spot is used to access confined and dangerous areas. In addition, using specialized software and a 360-degree camera fixed on its back, the quadruped takes photos of the different parts of the site. The snapshots will be used to assess the progress of the project and compare the reality of the budget to the planned deadlines. “Pomerleau is proud to be the first company in the world to include the Spot robot as a full member of its site team“, welcomed the actor of the BTP in a press release.
Interviewed by the Canadian media, Aurore De Vera, spokesperson for the company, clarified that Pomerleau sees robotics as a tool intended to facilitate the work of its personnel and improve its security rather than replacing it. She also revealed that her company has been talking to Boston Dynamics for some time, but declined to elaborate on the process that led to the collaboration.
The SDK available to everyone via GitHub
At the end of September 2019, Boston Dynamics announced that it was offering Spot rental for companies wishing to test it and develop its skills. An additional step was taken in January 2020 when the American robotics company announced that the quadruped software development kit (SDK) was available to everyone via GitHub. An opportunity for developers to create “custom applications that allow Spot to perform useful tasks for a broad range of industries“said Michael Perry, vice president of Boston Dynamics, on the occasion.
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