Boston Dynamics, the robotics company that is, for now, owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet, is perhaps best known for its terrifyingly human-like and animal-like robots, which have been caught outdoors on video walking down a snowy hill on two legs or frolicking about outside.
Now, Boston Dynamics has unveiled its latest bionic creation: an all-electric version of its Spot robot, called the SpotMini. SpotMini has four legs and an attachable elongated neck, which can gracefully and delicately move objects around. The dystopian household pet is featured in the company’s latest video traipsing around the house, helping load the dishwasher, walking up a flight of stairs, and ultimately wiping out on a banana peel, cartoon-style.
Earlier this year, Google hung up the for-sale sign on Boston Dynamics, and for now, it’s still the owner. The robotics upstart was part of a group of companies called Replicant that Google bought in 2013. Boston Dynamics had reportedly languished in the absence of Andy Rubin, who joined Google when it acquired his start-up, Android, and oversaw Google’s robotics division until he left the company late in 2014. Last year, Google consolidated Replicant into Google X’s lab—the part of the company responsible for Google’s audacious “moonshots.” Google never found new leadership for the division, however, and Google and Alphabet ultimately decided only to invest resources and time on more practical projects that would generate returns and get products to market. Now, Boston Dynamics’s potential buyers reportedly include automaker Toyota and other Google rivals like Amazon. Hopefully one of its suitors can give SpotMini a good home.
