No products in the cart.
Spot is known for its agility. It can walk up and down stairs and navigate tight spaces. It can even open doors.
But its ability to reveal potential threats ranks high among the reasons that so many agencies appear willing to pay up to $75,000 (£59,000) for the device.
Secret Service communications chief Guglielmi said the robotic dogs were “equipped with surveillance technology, and an array of advanced sensors that support our protective operations”.
The device comes outfitted with multiple cameras that generate a 3D map of its surroundings, according to Boston Dynamics marketing materials, and can also have extras such as thermal sensing.
But none of this happens without a human master.
“They basically have a joystick controlling the robot dog as it walks around,” said Missy Cummings, an engineering professor at George Mason University who runs the university’s Autonomy and Robotics Center. Spot can also move automatically along predefined routes.
Unlike their human and real canine counterparts, robotic dogs aren’t distracted by visuals, sounds or smells they encounter.
But despite their many impressive features, the devices can be taken down.
“You just have to spray it with Aqua Net hairspray in its ‘face’,” Cummings said. “And that would be enough to stop the cameras from working correctly.”
While the robotic dog seen at Mar-a-Lago is not armed, she says competitors appear to be experimenting with models that are.
“People are trying to weaponise these dogs,” Cummings adds, citing a Chinese model with an attached rifle which she learned about at a robotics meeting this week.
They aren’t about to replace humans, says Melissa Michelson, who likens the devices to assisted-driving technology in some vehicles.
“We don’t have a lot of faith in the ability of cars to drive by themselves,” Michelson said.
Secret Service agents at Mar-a-Lago have been seen patrolling alongside Spot.
“We still do need those humans behind the scenes to use human judgment and be able to jump in if there’s a technology breakdown,” she says.
