Chinese manufacturer Xiaomi shocked us at today’s press conference with its new product called CyberDog. It’s a robotic dog with “open-source” software. The company is already launching a limited sale of 1000 units of this product to selected engineers and fans today.
Cyberdog is Xiaomi’s intelligent robotic dog
The new four-legged robot named CyberDog is something of an experimental product with “open-source” software. Xiaomi says it has unpredictable customization capabilities. If you know Spot from the well-known company Boston Dynamics, this is basically its distant cousin.
It’s an alternative, but also a competitor to the Spot robot that started being sold last year for nearly 75 one thousand US dollars. The Spot robot from Boston Dynamics was used for various rescue purposes, for connecting with a patient in difficult terrain, for surveying minefields, but it was also tested by the army. It’s still not clear for what purpose Xiaomi is developing its robot.
In the press release, the manufacturer highlights the “open-source” nature of the software of this product. The manufacturer revealed that so far it has only released 1000 units for 9999 yuan (about 1500 US dollars) for selected Xiaomi fans, engineers, and robotics enthusiasts.
This community should be what drives the development and potential of these so-called “robotic dogs.” For now, the final selling price for other interested buyers isn’t known.
In addition, the manufacturer stresses the “pet nature” aspect. CyberDog can respond to voice commands and can also follow its owner, similar to a real live dog.
But when we look at the photos, we see an elegant yet futuristic and slightly intimidating appearance of a robot that stares at you with its many sensors and cameras. It has a different focus than, for example, the friendly, robotized companion Aibo from Sony.
A pet packed with technology
Xiaomi claims that CyberDog is agile enough to perform a backward flip, can run at speeds of 3.2 m / s (Spot from Boston Dynamics can do 3.9 m / s), and its payload is 3 kilograms (compared to Spot’s 5.2 kg).
CyberDog is powered by the Nvidia Jetson Xavier AI platform and comes with several cameras and numerous sensors.
The equipment also includes touch sensors, a GPS module, an ultra-wide-angle “fish-eye” lens, an Intel RealSense D450 depth-sensing camera, and SLAM navigation technology. All of these components enable the robot to navigate semi-autonomously in space. The motor that powers this robot can offer up to 220 revolutions per minute and a torque at the level of 32 Nm.
“CyberDog can analyze its surroundings in real time, create navigation maps, render a target, and avoid obstacles. Combined with its body posture control and face recognition, CyberDog is able to follow its owner and get around obstacles,” Xiaomi says.
The device can respond to voice commands, including recognizing selected words and instructions. The robot also has integrated 128 GB SSD storage. Since this is an intelligent robot, it can also be controlled via a smartphone and a connected mobile app.
On the connectivity side, CyberDog will offer a set of three USB Type-C ports, plus one HDMI port. According to Xiaomi, this can be used to customize the hardware. The robotic dog can then be further equipped with, for example, LiDAR sensors, panoramic cameras, or powerful search lights.
How do you like the new robotic companion from Xiaomi? Would you consider using this product? Follow our group on Facebook: Xiaomi Planet – A place for true Xiaomi fans and also our Xiaomi Planet portal—nothing from the world of Xiaomi will pass you by.
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