The Tiger vs. the Spot
We have always loved the idea of a robot that could do just about anything we wanted, so scientists gave us different types of robots over the years. However, like kids at a candy store, we asked for more: uncrewed vehicles.
Nowadays, scientists are currently outdoing each other as they try to develop the latest "badass" robot that takes the world by surprise. And a surprise is exactly what a group of guys at Hyundai has come up with. We will get to that in a bit.
In the meantime, let's talk about a robot.
Let’s talk about the Boston Dynamics Spot.
The Spot
The name "Spot" sounds familiar, right? Like the name that a dog would have, right? So why are we talking about dog names when we started the discussion about robots a few minutes ago. Well, that's because Spot is a dog (yes, you guessed right) and a robot. How is that possible?
The Boston Dynamics Spot is a quadruped robot. Yes, that's right. This Spot is a robot with four legs that allow it to do some dog "things" like climbing stairs. It can also do some robot things like covering rough terrain easily.
This robot is rugged and has been built to support remote operation and autonomous sensing. It is also intuitive and easily customizable, so you can use it across a range of industries. With the Boston Dynamics Spot, you get an adaptable platform that allows you to remotely access dangerous locations and automate data collection, among other things. It is built to run errands for you just like a well-trained dog would.
Talking about training, users can easily adjust the capabilities of the robot to suit their needs. So just like you get to teach your dog a few tricks, you could adjust things like Spot's walking gait, local navigation, obstacle avoidance, body posing, and of course, its calibration. All you need to do this is any one of an out-of-box controller or a developer-friendly API. Users can even use the tablet controller to complete simple remote inspection tasks using a feature known as Autowalk.
The best part about this “dog” is the level of privacy that it offers. Messages between Spot and its users are encrypted, and even its parent company Boston Dynamics, don't have access to such data except when permission is granted.
One “downside”(if you want to call it that)about Spot is that it was not built for industrial and commercial use, so it can't be used at the home front. At least for now. As a matter of fact, Boston Dynamics strongly advises against using Spot outside their recommended situations or guidelines. Users are also advised to conduct hazard and risk assessments before they start using Spot.
Spot is a one-of-a-kind type of robot, but you know what? There's a cooler dude(read robot) on the block. Here’s where we talk about the secret the guys at Hyundai have been cooking for a while. Here’s a tip. It’s a TIGER!
The Tiger
A group of engineers at Hyundai is working on something that will change the world as we know it. They are not working on any super-secret weapon that can blow up the world. Neither are they working on any secret drugs that can make man live forever.No.
They have simple found a way to create a TIGER that can fit into a suitcase. But why would anyone want to fit a TIGER into a suitcase? It all depends on the type of TIGER.
The TIGER in question is a robot: T.ransforming I.ntelligent G.round E.xcursion R.obot.It is not an animal by any means. Rather it is an uncrewed vehicle with legs!
The uncrewed UMV is a type of technology that is in a realm above other robots. But to talk about an autonomous vehicle like the TIGER is like talking about something straight from a futuristic sci-fi movie!
The Hyundai TIGER (Tiger X-1 for short) is compact and can easily fit inside a suitcase. It even gets better; its portable size means that this robot can be deployed, recharged, and retrieved using an autonomous quadcopter where situations demand. Like something from the Transformers movie, the Tiger X-1 can transform from an electric four-wheel-drive operation to a four-legged walking robot that can cover terrain that most vehicles find inaccessible.
This is possible because of the way it is designed. It has four wheels at the end of a flexible "leg," with each powered by an electric motor. The interesting part about the Tiger X-1 is the way it moves. Its wheels can cover very rugged terrain, but there is more. Whenever the Tiger X-1 comes across things it can't drive over, it walks over them by rising on its legs. These legs are also designed to bend to compensate for the robots movement through rough environments.
Potential and Positives Of The Spot and The Tiger
Spot and Tiger X-1 are the future of autonomous technology. Spot comes with an arm that allows it to do loads of stuff that you and I cannot handle. The Tiger X-1, on the other hand, can move in different directions while carrying supplies over rugged, dangerous terrain.
Both robots are built to access locations autonomously. If both robots were at a competition, the Tiger X-1 would come up tops. This is because the guys at Hyundai have designed Tiger X-1 to do stuff like carrying out crewless exploration of extreme environments in addition to delivering stuff to remote and inaccessible locations. This means that it can be used to send supplies like drugs and equipment to sites that humans or vehicles cannot access, like a battlefield or a natural disaster scene.
Both Spot and Tiger X-1 have immense potential. They also offer many positives for us, especially in the military, energy, agriculture, construction, delivery, emergency response, and space exploration. Indeed, we do have a lot to look forward to with these robots.