SpotMini — the newest robot unveiled by Boston Dynamics — can throw away your trash, load your dishwasher, play limbo and even climb up to the second story of your house to bring you a beer breakfast in bed. Its one weakness? Banana peels.
Oops!Watch the video Boston Dynamics uploaded to YouTube below if you want to see the SpotMini in action. Make sure to watch until the end for a Marvel-style easter egg.
The SpotMini’s tiny dinosaur/giraffe skeleton face works as a clamp for holding onto objects, meaning it can reach into a sink, pull out a dish, and then ( . . . at the moment haphazardly) place it into the dishwasher.
The SpotMini looks scary and the possibilities of what it could do with a knife or assault rifle stuck on its head is even scarier. But seen in the latter part of the video, clad in a Star Trek universe-esque skin, it could look pretty cool. It may just be enough to jump over the Uncanny valley.
At the moment, the SpotMini is still a work in progress, but the robotic helper dog does show how fast the future is coming at us. Imagine a world where you never have to get off the couch, for anything.
It’s worth noting that Alphabet, Google’s parent company, is reportedly trying to sell Boston Dynamics. According to The Guardian, this is because the military — US Marine Corps in specific — rejected the robot designs put forward by the company. That, in addition to the trouble with adapting militaristically designed robots for civilian, commercial use, according to Bloomberg News, is what prompted the move.
