Boston Dynamics Gives Spot a Big Upgrade with Color Cameras, Jetson NX Edge AI Payload, and More
Boston Dynamics throws the dog a bone with mesh and 5G networking capabilities, too, plus an upgraded tablet controller.
Boston Dynamics has announced another update to its Spot robotic dog platform — including the addition of full color imagery to all five of its depth-sensing cameras, feeding into a new and improve tablet controller and an edge AI payload based on the NVIDIA Jetson NX module.
"Spot’s impressive mobility and base functionality require the best available hardware to ensure reliability and ease-of-use," Boston Dynamics explains of its latest revision to the iconic quadrupedal robot platform. "To stay at the cutting edge, we recently upgraded Spot’s base sensors, integrated a new and improved tablet controller, and designed a smarter and faster charger to keep Spot running at maximum efficiency."
That new controller, described by the company as "the biggest upgrade for many Spot operators," takes the form of an improved tablet with larger eight-inch touchscreen display, offering more room for mission editing and teleoperation. The tablet, which the company has weighed at under a pound, includes full drop protection and weather-proofing — and, the company has confirmed, comes with an optional physical joystick accessory for easier manipulation of the Spot Arm add-on.
On the payload front, Boston Dynamics has announced the Spot CORE I/O, a computer payload targeting on-device data processing for edge AI work. Based on the NVIDIA Jetson Xavier NX module, the payload includes a six-core Arm-based processor, 384-core Volta GPU, and two Deep-Learning Accelerators (NVDLAs) designed to accelerate deep-learning workloads with an overall performance measured at 21 TOPS at INT8 precision. The payload is, the company has confirmed, fully weather-sealed — yet includes access to the Jetson's general-purpose input/output (GPIO) capabilities for the addition of sensors or other hardware.
Another change comes to the Spot platform itself, where the robot's five depth-sensing stereo cameras have been upgraded to offer full color imagery. "While Spot doesn’t need color images to see," the company admits, "this change improves the operator's view, making it easier to decipher the robot’s environment from the tablet or from Spot's remote operation software, Scout."
Other announcements from the company include a faster and smarter charging unit and a partnership with Rajant on a Kinetic Mesh Radio Kit to provide wireless connectivity — while those within range of a cellular network can connect the CORE I/O module to AT&T for high-speed 5G connectivity.
More details on all of the company's announcements are available on the Boston Dynamics website.