BOSTON DYNAMICS SPOT ROBOT ANSWERS

1. Which domains of AI are used in this robot

ANSWER:
Spot has an inherent sense of balance and perception that enables it to walk steadily
on a wide variety of terrains. According to Boston dynamics the company which
made this robot says that This form of AI that we call “athletic intelligence” allows
Spot to walk, climb stairs, avoid obstacles, traverse difficult terrain, and
autonomously follow pre-set routes with little or no input from users. Spot heavily rely
on computer vision, artificial intelligence, machine learning algorithms to do its set
tasks.
Artificial intelligence is a computer system that is able to perform tasks that ordinarily
require human intelligence. Artificial intelligence systems are critical for companies
that wish to extract value from data by automating and optimizing processes or
producing actionable insights.
Machine learning is a subset of artificial intelligence.
Machine learning enables computers or machines to make data-driven decisions
rather than being explicitly programmed for a certain task. Deep learning is artificial
intelligence (AI) function that imitates the working of the human brain in processing
data and creating patterns for use in decision making. Deep learning is a subset of
machine learning in artificial intelligence that has network capable of learning
unsupervised from data that is unstructured or unlabelled also known as deep neural
learning or deep neural network. Deep learning Use cases are ; Driverless vehicles,
Virtual assistants, Facial recognition etc,
Computer vision system must recognize the present objects and their characteristics
such as shapes textures, colours, sizes, spatial arrangement, among other things to
provide a description as complete as possible of the image. Different techniques of
computer vision. Image classification, Object detection, Object tracking, Semantic
segmentation, Instance segmentation. This robot makes use of all these techniques
and algorithms build in it. thus giving accurate results for a given task as expected.

2. Where you can use this robot

ANSWER:
SPOT can be used as a sort of patrol Bot that can continuously inspect a space. On
a typical job site, a manager might be able to peruse and document the whole
operation once a week to make sure all the components are coming into place
properly instead of that if you loaded out Spot with a 360 camera, it could do the
rounds every night, because once it builds an initial 3D map of the environment,
during each subsequent visit it can detect changes. It can operate in the rain and
withstand clouds of dust. it can venture into hazards like asbestos-tainted buildings,
where it’s expensive to send humans in hazmat suits.
Some typical use case of this robot can be:
 We can; Inspect progress on construction sites, create digital twins, and
compare as-built conditions to Building Information Modelling (BIM)
autonomously with Spot.
 Create autonomous routes or drive the robot to remotely inspect facilities and
improve awareness of plant operations.
 Create autonomous routes or drive the robot to remotely perform inspections
in electrified or radiation dense areas.
 Create routine tunnel inspection routes and attach additional payloads to take
measurements and ensure safe working conditions.
 Set Spot up to do autonomous inspection rounds or use the robot to create
digital twins of a plant in advance of rework.
 Drive Spot remotely to get eyes on dangerous situations or inspect hazardous
packages from afar.
 Program dynamic movements and expressive poses through the API or drive
the robot in real-time as part of a performance.
 Integrate Spot with sensors and software to develop applications with industry
partners. 

3. What improvements you can do to this robot

ANSWER:
Lot of mods can be made available to improve the functionality and ruggedness.
Hardware improvements can consist of using different materials while building the
robot according to the specific use cases. it can have cameras, different modules as
an attachment. Software Improvements can be made as it is a vast field and
applications, integration of various new techniques according to specific use cases
can give excellent results from this robot.
The Spot CAM+IR payload turns Spot into a powerful inspection tool with purpose-
built cameras and turn key integration. Spot CAM+IR features a colour ring camera
with a 360° field of view for complete situational awareness while remotely
operating the robot, a pan tilt-zoom (PTZ) colour camera for detailed inspections
from a distance, and an integrated radiometric thermal camera to detect issue-
indicating hot spots. Integrated high-sensitivity microphones and amplified
speakers enable remote auditory inspections and two-way communication with
operators in the field.
Spot CORE AI is a complete development environment for running computationally
intensive tasks like machine learning on Spot. This payload connects directly to the
payload port for power and networking and comes with our SDK pre-loaded so you
can get up and running as fast as possible. Unlike the computers inside Spot, this
system is open to developer adjustments. If you have special system requirements,
you can format the disk and install your own operating system.
Enhance the range and accuracy of Spot’s autonomy system on large and
changing sites with LIDAR. The Spot EAP improves Spot’s autonomy by enabling
the robot to create larger and more accurate maps. Spot’s base 3D cameras
have an effective range of four meters for autonomous mapping. The LIDAR
in this payload increases Spot’s sensing range and allows the robot to navigate
spaces with features up to 100 meters away.

4. Improvement in robot for the tasks that it can perform as of now

ANSWER:
There is always room for improvement in as there is lot to learn. Spot can be a great
choice for an autonomous, mobile data gathering platform, especially in adverse
environments. Boston Dynamics has invested thousands of engineering hours into
optimizing the legged locomotion of Spot. Spot is capable of reliable operation in
environments where wheeled struggle to navigate. grasping, picking, placing
Manually or semi-autonomously and drag a wide variety of objects, including valve
handles, door knobs, tools, etc. Semi-autonomously manipulate objects with
constrained movement (e.g. turn valves, pull levers, open drawers, etc.). door
opening Semi-autonomously turn handles and open standard push and pull doors.
The robot can be improved in lot of ways;
It can have Improved autonomy for Auto walk. Map an entire site by extending paths
and adding new inspection Actions to existing missions over multiple recording
sessions. Mission planning: Save time by selecting which inspection Actions you
want Spot to perform, and it will take the shortest path to collect data. Scheduled
missions: Inspect a site after hours with simple scheduling tools and tablet-free,
unsupervised autonomy.
It can have More reliable data collection through Repeatable image capture, Live
review of computer vision models it can get Enterprise integrations, Spot can close
the loop with enterprise systems to understand and manage operations. This will
help teams to manage assets, detect anomalies sooner, track work, build digital
twins, and more. It Automatically push data into enterprise systems at the end of a
mission with custom code. The Cloud compatibility can be added. Connecting Spot
to AWS, Azure, IBM and other systems with existing or easy-to-build integrations.
Spot become easier to program, troubleshoot and operate, while enabling dynamic
sensing onsite
The robot has potential to create a platform which is more cohesive. Those without
robotics skills can utilize and do something useful with it.
And Afterall It can be improved to do the routine tasks more reliably. Most common
people have use for regular day to day work and this robot can be super useful.
Integrating systems in this robot which help physically challenged people in some
way will give a different dimension to its use case.