Spot has neither head nor tail. Four limbs support the body, and the whole unit weighs 32.7 kilograms. When walking, Spot is 61 centimeters tall. It has an average battery life of 90 minutes.
Spot has been developed for industrial use by the US robotics company Boston Dynamics. It is designed to move autonomously around construction sites and mines, for example, while monitoring events. Spot can collect data in situations and areas that are dangerous for humans.
Spot can carry 14 kilograms worth of equipment, so technology can be added to the basic model, such as a camera or a robotic arm. Spot can be controlled using its own tablet or software, or the user can teach Spot to walk by itself.
Tampere University acquired Spot in autumn 2022 for research and teaching purposes. The robot, worth around 100,000 euros, was named Tassu (Paw). It lives on the Hervanta campus, in the co-learning space Robostudio.
“Finally, a capable robot, which is really moving and doesn’t just stand still and make movements,” says university lecturer Aino Ahtinen.
Tassu is very agile both indoors and outdoors, and even on staircases and in the snow – the lower temperature limit is -20 °C. Tassu recognizes obstacles and avoids them, but it cannot detect glass. Once, it marched straight through the glass door of the Tampere University.
According to Ahtinen, dogs are interested in Tassu, but the robot can also seem scary to them. The robot’s smell is mechanical, and its movements are not as smooth as those of a dog. As Tassu moves, it makes a whizzing sound and its fans whir. It has a maximum speed of 1.6 m/s, or about 5.8 km/h, which is equivalent to a human’s walking speed.