Bark not yet as good as its byte
First came the barking drones, now a headless, yellow robo-dog is roaming New Zealand farms.
Spot, a robotic canine created by United States company Boston Dynamics, spent part of the coronavirus lockdown herding sheep on a North Island station.
Through a partnership with Boston Dynamics, Kiwi software company Rocos is putting Spot through its paces to see how the technology might benefit the agricultural sector.
After a test run on the sheep and beef station, an hour out of Gisborne, Rocos chief executive David Inggs said the robots were a long way from entirely replacing sheepdogs.
However, as the hardware improved, so would Spot’s chances of a life on the land.
‘‘We were pretty shocked to see it’s actually not that far away from being able to herd sheep. Its agility on the hills was better than we’d expected. But they’re not built for herding sheep. The hardware isn’t there yet.’’
While dogs could ‘‘go all day and all night’’, Spot has a 90-minute battery life.
The robot would also come off second best in a footrace with its canine counterparts.
But those issues could be resolved, Inggs said. ‘‘Speed and battery life are both things that can be improved.’’
He said Rocos had a deep respect for the agricultural sector and a serious interest in increasing its productivity.
As well as the sheep and beef farm, Inggs has tested Spot’s capabilities in kiwifruit and avocado orchards, where it’s hoped it could be used to measure crop health and yield.
‘‘The vast majority of our work is international and we’re really interested in seeing how autonomous robotic technology might benefit New Zealand farms and farmers,’’ he said.
Agile, durable and customisable, Spot was designed to go where other robots can’t, using a range of sensors to capture data in real time.
Rocos software allows the robot to be managed from a remote location. Missions can be designed and edited on the fly, and sensor data can be accessed by remote teams.
Spot has already been used overseas for a number of tasks, including in the battle against Covid-19. In Singapore, the robots patrolled a popular park, estimating the number of people in the area and emitting messages to encourage social distancing.