https://preview.redd.it/wyohqjjukwsd1.jpg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e7a48d5efddd4faad5feaf9265867a5b7b1c8d2e
***Photo above*** *- Spot the police dog, out on a test drive. If a fleet (pack?) is purchased, they will cost $280,000 each. As much as 5 police cruisers.*
Meet “Spot” the robot police dog, manufactured by Boston Dynamics. Spot can shake hands, roll over, go up and down stairs, and fetch. He (it?) is about the size of golden retriever and weighs 70 pounds. See link below. Spot’s mission is to “ensure public safety” and work on “counterterrorism”.
Spot also retails for more than a quarter million dollars. Before accessories such as wall charger, extra battery pack, and maintenance contract. If they’re not available already, I’m sure Boston Robotics will soon have upgraded Spot the robot dog trim levels like Platinum, Black Edition, and Long-Range.
Range would be THE question, no? We probably shouldn’t evaluate a robot dog on how many miles it can go on a full charge. How about battery duration? The LAPD isn’t forthcoming on this, but the sales brochure for the civilian version says up to 90 minutes. Probably less in northern climates.
I haven’t done a deep dive on real police canines, or even seeing eye dogs, but I’m willing to go out on a limb and guess they operate more than 2 hours at a time. I don’t make any such assumption on how much real service dogs purchased by the government cost. Knowing how procurement departments operate, a fully trained police dog could go for anywhere from $10,000 to $10 million, I guess.
Did I mention that Spot the robot dog doesn’t need kibble?
I’d like to apologize to any readers who expected a top photo or amusing reference to the film “Robo-Cop”. Which was actually a human brain embedded in a hydraulic exoskeleton and fed baby food. Spot seems less dystopian, even if it doesn’t come with 3 separate guns like Robo-cop. For now. The first time someone empties a full clip from their Glock at Spot, we’re either going to find out that he already IS weaponized, or it’s a quick install dealer upgrade. Do you want the 9mm with a standard 15 round clip? Or 50 caliber machine gun with 1,000 rounds?
Remember what they promised us about USAF surveillance drones . . . no weapons? Now autonomous US military drones carry more explosive power than a cruise missile and can take off and land from an aircraft carrier at night, in complete blackout mode. I’d be amazed if Spot the anti-terrorist robot dog doesn’t already have a stealth/blackout mode, too.
I’m just sayin’ . . .
[**Meet LAPD’s new crimefighting robot dog Spot (thehill.com)**](https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/4913721-los-angeles-police-department-crimefighting-robot-dog/#:~:text=Spot,%20LAPD%E2%80%99s%20new%20robotic%20crimefighting)
[**City Council votes to accept donation of controversial LAPD robot dog – Los Angeles Times (latimes.com)**](https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-05-23/city-council-votes-to-accept-controversial-lapd-robot-dog-donation)
Source: baltimore-aureole
1 Comment
what does this have to do with the economy?