A robotics company known for its widely shared videos of nimble, legged robots opening doors or walking through rough terrain is preparing to sell some after more than a quarter-century of research.
Boston Dynamics chief executive Marc Raibert says his company plans to begin selling the dog-like SpotMini robot next year, likely to businesses for use as a camera-equipped security guard.
But he thinks other applications for the four-legged contraption will be likely developed by other companies because the robot has a flat platform to allow other equipment with its own programming to be easily mounted on top of it.
Boston Dynamics already has made 10 SpotMinis with plans to manufacture about 100 more for additional testing before going into mass production by the middle of next year, Raibert said on Friday.
No price has been set for the robot yet, though Raibert said making the latest prototype cost about one-tenth the price of earlier versions.
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Raibert unveiled the SpotMini plans at the University of California, Berkeley, during a TechCrunch conference focused on the rise of robotics and its potential to perform tasks and jobs now handled by humans.
Founded in 1992, Boston Dynamics rarely reveals its plans except by posting YouTube videos that have impressed and terrified people.
Most of Boston Dynamics' robotics research had been applied in the military until Google bought the Waltham, Massachusetts, company in 2013.
Japanese tech giant SoftBank bought Boston Dynamics from Google last year.
