Ford launched two of Boston Dynamics’ terrifying robots in their workshops in August.
Quadrupeds, known as Fluffy and Spot, will use their four-camera scanning systems to generate three-dimensional maps from Ford’s production facility in Van Dyke, Michigan. These maps will be used through engineers to update your original installation designs.
“We designed and built the factory. After that, over the years, adjustments are made that are rarely documented,” Mark Goderis, Ford’s head of virtual engineering, said in a statement. “It can take only two weeks to digitize a plant. With The of Fluffy, we can do it in part of the time.”
It can also save Ford a lot of money. The company says it used to charge about $300,000 to scan an unwrified facility. If the driving force works, Ford plans to scan all of its plants for a fraction of the load.
[Read: Enjoy Boston Dynamics Robot Spot – one for perverse businesses]
Over time, Ford expects to run remote bots from anywhere in the country. But for now, they want a human operator with a game-like device to remain within 50 meters of robots.
Fluffy’s handler is engineer Paula Wiebelhaus, who is guilty of never having a dog or video game controller.
“At first I didn’t go on to lie, it was pretty intimidating for a dog at the forefront of technology,” he said. “But it’s easy to use and maneuvered well in spaces. He’ll move on to limited spaces that Scouter, our other robot, won’t be able to accommodate.”
But that doesn’t mean Scouter goes to the pound. The robots will paint together, Scouter acting Fluffy walks down the aisles to keep his battery from nooks and crannies.
You can see them in action in the following video:
While 70-pound robots might seem trained to kill you from sitting down, Boston Dynamics promises that they may not be used to “harm or intimidate” people. However, his human colleagues are invited to heed the disturbing caution in the mouth of robots:
SERVICE DOG
NO PETER
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