People got really creeped out when the Boston Dynamics SpotMini Robot Dog was witnessed opening a door by itself. The company wanted to show that it was not that big of a deal so they have released another video that shows the robodog’s door opening attempts being disturbed continuously by a man with a hockey stick and a pair of safety glasses. The video shows that the robot SpotMini was very easily deterred by the armed man. Therefore, people can have the relief that they are not in danger to be killed by a door opening robot.
Boston Dynamics’ video shows that it is a snapshot of a lab scenario to test the response of the robot when a disturbance occurs. They described that the robot controller gives it the ‘GO’ command to open the door off-camera. After the command is given, the robot faces resistance with the hockey stick. The video description says, “Controllers provide locomotion, balance and adjust behavior when progress gets off track. The ability to tolerate and respond to disturbances like these improves successful operation of the robot.”
The scientists at Boton Dynamics have mentioned that the test on the robodog with hockey doesn’t hurt the robot in any way. The text says, “Note: This testing does not irritate or harm the robot.” The video is still expected to end in a showreel stating that Boston Dynamics pushed their robodog with a stick, despite mentioning the note with it.