SpotMini, the doglike robot that struck fear into the hearts of many when a viral video showed it opening a door, is slated for commercial sale in the not-so-distant future. Marc Raibert, founder of the company Boston Dynamics, which created the robots, made the announcement Friday at the TechCrunch Sessions robotics conference at the University of California, Berkeley. Raibert said the company intends to manufacture 100 SpotMinis this year as a “prelude” to a “higher rate of production” in preparation for selling the product next year. He didn’t say how much the robot might cost. The SpotMini made headlines in February after Boston Dynamics published a video titled “Hey Buddy, Can You Give Me a Hand?” The video shows one of the four-legged, yellow-and-black robots with an extendable claw opening a door to allow its companion, a fellow bot lacking the claw, to go through.

Source: Huffington Post May 12, 2018 17:15 UTC