The viral Xiaomi robotic dog posed to be an affordable challenge to Boston Dynamic’s Spot just released new images + sketches!

Quadruped robots hit the scene in 1976 and since then, they’ve been used for everything from unsafe forensic and governmental tasks such as bomb-sniffing and mine surveying to clinical tasks like connecting with patients to provide remote medical attention.

Quadruped technology is the talk of the robotics world. Four-legged robots are relied on by industries across the world for tasks that require a stable walking gait and agile mobility. Xiaomi, a Chinese tech company, recently unveiled more 3D renders of their own Quadruped robotic creation, CyberDog.

Currently, the bio-inspired, four-legged robot has been engineered as a robotic companion whose future technical capabilities are still in development. In a recent press release from Xiaomi, it’s said that CyberDog comes complete with “AI interactive cameras [and sensors], binocular ultra-wide-angle fisheye cameras, and Intel ® RealSense™ D450 Depth module, and can be trained with its computer vision algorithm.”

CyberDog’s external interface features an array of camera sensors. CyberDog’s involved vision sensor system allows the robot to carve out its own navigational map and analyze its surrounding environment in real-time, allowing it to look toward a destination and avoid physical barriers on the way. Currently, CyberDog’s integrated software allows the quadruped robotic companion to operate like a real dog.

Inspired by the pet-like nature of canines, CyberDog also features built-in smart technology that allows posture and facial recognition, which means CyberDog can even follow its owner around like a real dog. Xiaomi filled CyberDog with 11 high-precision sensors that allow the robot to register, analyze, and interact with its surrounding environment. With a maximum torque output and rotation speed up to 32N·m/220Rpm, CyberDog can move at speeds up to 3.2 m/s.

Syberdog also comes with 3 type-C ports and 1 HDMI port so users can attach hardware add-ons, Xiaomi describes, “be it a search light, panoramic camera, motion camera, LiDAR, or more.” In addition to its integrated biometric technology, CyberDog responds to voice commands like assigning tasks or operation control. Alternatively, users can manage CyberDog’s movement and direction via accompanying remote control or smartphone applications.

Expanding on CyberDog’s technical and managerial potential, a “rich external interface” includes 3 type-C ports and 1 HDMI port, allowing users to attach hardware add-ons or software systems to make acute improvements to CyberDog’s existing technology. On CyberDog’s ability to register commands, Xiaomi notes, “CyberDog can be called on for the most unique tasks, and the ways in which it can be interacted with holds unforetold possibilities.”

Designer: Xiaomi

Rubber bottomed feet allow CyberDog to move around rugged terrain and indoor settings alike.

Hinged limbs allow CyberDog to move just like a canine animal.

CyberDog can even do push-ups. Only half-kidding. It can do push-ups, thanks to its 220 rpm32N-m maximum torque.

Soft rubber bottoms allow for soft and nimble treading.

11 high-precision sensors fill out CyberDog’s internal wiring that give CyberDog the power to understand, analyze, and interact with its environment.

CyberDog comes equipped with voice command technology and facial recognition software so it can follow humans around and respond to tasks like a real canine might.

CyberDog can conduct high-speed movements up to 3.2 m/s.

Da Gou Is China’s Version of the Big Dog Robot

Da Gou Brochure

Chinese companies are often accused for drawing too much inspiration (trying to avoid the word “copying” here), and the Da Gou robot, which is extremely similar to Boston Dynamics’ Big Dog, might reignite such accusations.

Da Gou, the quadruped robot developed by NORINCO, was first shown to the world in August, at an exhibition. It should be noted that Big Dog, Boston Dynamics’ robot that served as an inspiration for Da Gou, ended up as U.S. Army’s Legged Squad Support System (LS3) tech demonstrator, so the development of a similar robot makes you wonder what plans China has for this moving pile of metal. Ironically enough, the official name of the Chinese quadruped robot is Mountainous Bionic Quadruped Robot, but the attendants to the exhibition preferred to call it Da Gou, which is Mandarin for Big Dog.

If you’re into numbers, then the following pieces of data are for you. Da Gou weighs 130 kg and can carry a payload of up to 30 kg. This thing alone makes it adequate for military missions, where such a robot would relieve the soldiers from carrying heavy loads. The maximum speed of the Chinese Big Dog is of 6 miles per hour (approximately 10 kmph), and the quadruped is said to be able to climb hills with a slope of up to 30 degrees.

In other news, China’s robot sector has recently witnessed an ever increasing demand, and while this country doesn’t exhibit their mechanical creations as often as Japan, that doesn’t mean that there isn’t a lot of potential there. The Mountainous Bionic Quadruped Robot will definitely have a military application, and supposing that the rest of the robots developed in this country share the same fate, the entire world should be terrified of going at war against China. That’s as if the fact that this country has the largest army in the world wasn’t enough.

For the time being, most Chinese robots are working in industry, where they are replacing human workforce at task that could prove dangerous. Zhou Chaosen, deputy secretary of Guangzhou Federation Of Robotics, pointed out that “It’s very hard to recruit workers in a hard working environment such as the chemical and steel industries, so there’s a lot of space for industrial robots.” In this context, I agree that humans should be replaced by robots, but in other fields this might constitute a problem.

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