Xiaomi presents CyberDog, a quadruped robot that responds to voice commands and follows you like a pet, but it is also an experimental open source machine with possibilities never seen before.
Spot, the robot dog from Boston Dynamics It went on sale for the first time last year with a price tag of $ 74,500; and it has been given a wide variety of uses, such as caring for parks and people; inspect dangerous mines; help physicians connect with patients remotely; even keeping order in the army, for example.
Now, China’s tech giant, Xiaomi presents CyberDog as a machine that “has unprecedented possibilities” but with the nature of a pet. These statements open up a world of possibilities for the implementation of the new robot dog.
Nevertheless, it is not clear what goal Xiaomi is pursuing for CyberDog. Through a press release, the Chinese company emphasized the open source feature in the design of the machine.
Xiaomi said it will initially release only 1,000 units for “Xiaomi fans, engineers and robotics enthusiasts”. The company says it expects these early adopters to “drive the development and potential of quadruped robots.”
In comparison with Spot, the robot dog from Boston Dynamics, CyberDog has a super affordable price. The first 1,000 units will cost 9,999 yuan, which is equivalent to approximately $ 1,540; that is, about 31,000 Mexican pesos.
CyberDog, the machine of unprecedented possibilities, is also a pet
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Besides the open source feature, Xiaomi highlights CyberDog’s “pet-like nature”. By this he refers to the robot quadruped’s ability to respond to voice commands and follow its owner like a real dog.
But, Cyberdog, at first glance it does not seem to be a rival of Aibo, Sony’s cuddly robot dog. Since Cyberdog It is not small or cute but strong and futuristic, even a little intimidating. The images show him as the protagonist of a science fiction series.
But, although it doesn’t look like a lap dog like Sony Aibo, Xiaomi Says CyberDog It is agile enough to backflip, jog at a speed of 3.2 m / s (Spot e at 3.9 m / s) and weighs 3 kg (Spot weighs 5.2 kg).
What can CyberDog do?
CyberDog is powered by Nvidia’s Jetson Xavier artificial intelligence platform and it is equipped with touch sensors, a GPS module, an ultra wide angle fisheye lens and Intel’s RealSense D450 camera for depth detection. These components allow the robot to move semi-autonomously.
CyberDog can respond to voice commands, including word recognition and activation instructions and can be controlled by a application from the phone.
CyberDog also has three USB-C ports and one HDMI port, which Xiaomi dice can be used to customize your hardware. The company suggests that sensors could be added lidar, panoramic cameras and search lights to the robot.
“CyberDog can analyze its environment in real time, create navigation maps, plot your destination and avoid obstacles. Along with human posture tracking and facial recognition, Cyberdog it is able to follow its owner and dodge obstructions ”, Xiaomi says in the statement.