Boston Dynamics Dancing Robots: Innovation in Motion

The American engineering and robotics company Boston Dynamics is known worldwide for developing various dynamic and highly mobile robots. We will briefly discuss each robot at the end of the article. But now, we want to show an exciting video titled "Spot’s On It," featuring 7 robot dogs named Spot dancing.

 

Spot’s On It | Dancing Robot Dogs

Boston Dynamics was founded in 1992 as a subsidiary of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Since June 2021, Boston Dynamics has been owned by Hyundai Motor Group, in honor of which this video was released to the song by BTS "IONIQ: I'm On It."

Now let's talk a little about the creation of this video.

At first, it's not entirely clear what you're looking at. Yellow robots, sitting in silence, are lined up so closely that they almost resemble lounge chairs stacked on top of each other. Then, in time with the music, their arms form a smooth series of patterns, creating the impression of one multi-armed peacock robot in front of the camera. Finally, the seven Spots spread out, synchronizing their steps and seeming to outdo each other's dance moves.

The steps are so precisely calculated, and the movements so smooth and harmonious that you might think the robots are actually listening to the music and reacting to it. But they are not; they are listening to their synchronized internal clocks. Despite all their complex sensors, the robots don't even know that music is playing. Their ability to move in space without stepping on each other's heels is the result of meticulous positioning and programming, not a robot's obstacle avoidance function.

The final result is seamless, smooth, and even a bit astonishing. But behind the scenes lie hours of choreographic and engineering work—all coming together for a 77-second performance.

"There were many challenges in translating our choreographer's vision, who was used to dealing with dancers, into our software," notes Eric Whitman, a robotics engineer at Boston Dynamics, who played a major role in producing the "Spot’s On It" video.

"Everything needed to be planned in advance and precisely programmed according to the script. Robots have an advantage over people in that they are very repeatable: once you get it right, it stays right. But they also have a drawback—you have to tell them every little thing. They don't improvise at all."

This is not Spot's first appearance on the dance floor. In 2018, Spot showcased its abilities to the song "Uptown Funk." And at the end of 2020, Spot joined robots Atlas and Handle in a dance performance to the classic 1962 song "Do You Love Me." We will show these videos later.

As soon as these videos end, the obvious question remains: why dance? After all, Spot is already used for commercial purposes. The robot performs inspections at power plants and construction sites. What's the point of programming the robot to wiggle its butt?

"Such a sporting performance, like dancing, highlights the mechanical design of the robot as well as the algorithms in the software," says Marc Raibert, founder and chairman of Boston Dynamics. "If you look at the dance we performed, you will see that it has dozens of different behaviors, so the team had to create tools that allow us to create these behaviors quickly enough to complete the project in a reasonable time. That's a practical answer."

"But for me," adds Raibert, "it was mainly a way to express creativity and have fun."

Roboticist Eric Whitman notes that it took years to develop Spot's familiar behavior, such as confident walking and climbing. According to him, creating a dance video like this gives developers a creative goal, leading to rapid innovations in how the robot can move. The dance also reveals potential improvements in the robot's physical design. Or, as Whitman put it, "Dancing is a form of accelerated equipment lifecycle testing." For example, after the dance tests showed that too much impact on the robot dog's knee could cause damage, the company decided to find more durable materials for the upper part of the robot's legs.

"When we do these projects, we always have two goals," says Whitman. "The first goal is to use the video as motivation to improve the product. The second goal is to have fun creating the video."

 

UpTown Spot | Dancing Robot Dog (2018)

 

Do You Love Me? | Dancing Robots Atlas, Handle, and Spot (2020)

 

Boston Dynamics Robots

BigDog

BigDog — a quadruped robot created in 2005 as an auxiliary robotic transport for ground troops, capable of moving over highly rugged terrain. BigDog can carry up to 150 kg of cargo at speeds of up to 6.4 km/h and climb slopes of up to 35 degrees.

 

LittleDog

LittleDog — a small quadruped robot created in 2010 for research purposes. The robot's legs have a wide range of motion, and it is strong enough for climbing and dynamic gaits.

 

Cheetah

Cheetah — a quadruped robot capable of speeds of 28 miles per hour (45 km/h or 13 m/s), setting a record for quadruped robots as of August 2012. Cheetah has a flexible spine that helps achieve high speed. However, this speed corresponds to the movement of the robot's legs, not its ability to move itself forward. Moreover, this lab sample of the robot moved on a treadmill, powered by a stationary hydraulic setup.

Therefore, on October 5, 2013, Boston Dynamics introduced an improved version of this robot called WildCat, which has an autonomous hydraulic power system. On flat surfaces, WildCat reaches speeds of 25 km/h.

Interestingly, the Biomimetic Robotics Laboratory at MIT created its own similar robot, also known as Cheetah. By 2014, this robot-cheetah could jump over obstacles while running, and by 2018, it could climb stairs.

 

RiSE

RiSE — a six-legged robot capable of climbing vertical obstacles: walls, trees, and fences. It uses legs with micro-claws and a tail for movement, and it can change its posture according to the curvature of the surface. RiSE is 0.25 meters long and weighs 2 kg. The speed is 0.3 m/s.

 

PETMAN

PETMAN — a bipedal robot designed for testing personal protective equipment. It is the first anthropomorphic robot that moves like a real person. It has many technological borrowings from BigDog.

 

LS3

Legged Squad Support System (LS3), also known as AlphaDog, is a militarized version of BigDog. This robot is designed for military use and can operate in hot, cold, humid, and dirty conditions.

 

Handle

Handle — a robot about 2 meters tall, capable of moving at speeds of up to 4 m/s and jumping to a height of 1.2 meters. The distinctive feature of the robot is that its rear legs have wheels. The battery charge is enough for 24 km of travel.

 

Stretch

Stretch — a robot designed for operations with boxes and crates in confined spaces. Its main task is to work in warehouses and unload trucks. The claimed performance is the movement of 800 boxes weighing up to 23 kilograms per hour without human intervention.

 

Pick

Pick — a robot similar to Stretch, but fixed in a certain place. It is designed for transporting boxes. The robot can identify a box in less than a second. It automatically removes the cardboard sheet.

 

Atlas

Atlas — an anthropomorphic robot 5 feet (152.4 cm) tall, designed for moving over rugged terrain. It is based on an earlier humanoid robot, PETMAN. Walks on two legs, can use free hands for carrying cargo or climbing vertical obstacles.

 

Spot

Spot (robot dog) — a quadruped robot first introduced on June 23, 2016, capable of speeds up to 1.6 meters per second. The robot navigates the terrain using stereo cameras, which together provide a 360° field of view. Thus, Spot moves around with unprecedented mobility, allowing routine inspection and data collection tasks to be automated safely, accurately, and frequently. The robot dog weighs 25 kilograms.

Spot is a versatile mobile robot that can be customized for a wide range of applications. The base platform provides mobility on rough terrain, obstacle avoidance, as well as various levels of navigation, remote control, and autonomy. The manufacturer claims that Spot can be customized by adding specialized sensors, software, and other useful payloads. Early customers of Boston Dynamics are already testing Spot for monitoring construction sites and ensuring remote inspection of oil and gas, energy facilities, and public safety. Spot is in mass production and currently being delivered to selected early users.

To demonstrate this theory, we will show the official Boston Dynamics video below.

 

Factory Safety Service Robot

Factory Safety Service Robot was introduced on September 17, 2021. It is based on the existing robot Spot. Its built-in thermal imaging camera and 3D LiDAR system help detect nearby people, monitor fire hazards, and recognize open and closed doors.