Xiaomi has launched a strange, robotic pet called CyberDog
Chinese technology conglomerate Xiaomi has unveiled a quadruped robot that bears striking resemblance to Boston Dynamics' Spot robot dog. Named CyberDog, the robot is an experimental, open-source project that "holds unforetold possibilities," according to Xiaomi. For starters, the company will release only 1,000 units of CyberDog to "Xiaomi fans, engineers, and robotics enthusiasts" priced at ¥9,999 (Rs. 1.14 lakh) apiece.
CyberDog joins growing list of mass-market quadrupeds and biped robots
Quadrupeds and Bipedal robots have been in the limelight recently for the feats they have achieved and the use-cases they are being put to. For instance, in July, Oregon State University researchers' bipedal robot called Cassie successfully completed a 5K run on a single charge. Meanwhile, Boston Dynamics' Spot has begun feeling at home in military applications and YouTube creators' projects alike.
CyberDog launched alongside Mi Mix 4, features NVIDIA processor
Xiaomi debuted the CyberDog alongside the Mi Mix 4 smartphone on Tuesday. The company believes that CyberDog is a testament to the company's "engineering prowess". An NVIDIA Jetson Xavier NX module makes up the robot's brains. It packs 384 CUDA cores, 48 Tensor cores, six Carmel CPU cores, and two cores dedicated to deep learning. The robot sports 11 sensors to capture ambient data.
CyberDog can do backflips, follow owner, respond to voice commands
Remarkably, the CyberDog is quite like a real dog, Xiaomi claims. Its Intel RealSense D450 depth sensor enables object tracking and obstacle avoidance while mobility is enabled by Xiaomi's own custom-developed servo motors. The company claims that CyberDog can do backflips, follow its owner around, and avoid pitfalls. It also responds to voice commands, verbal calls, wake words, and instructions from compatible voice assistants.
CyberDog can track human faces and postures
The robot interfaces with the human world via three USB-C ports and an HDMI port. This doubles up as connectivity for auxiliary hardware and allows developers to load custom software. Color scheme aside, the CyberDog appears to have been inspired by RoboCop. The bot can recognize and track human faces, and even identify postures. This enables it to follow its owner in crowded spaces.
Xiaomi didn't say when robot dog would ship to customers
However, Xiaomi hasn't yet announced when the CyberDog would ship to customers but we sure are more excited for it than we were for its vacuum cleaners. The company envisions that CyberDog will help foster a community of open-source enthusiasts that may be followed by the construction of a robotics laboratory to pave the way for "future innovations".
