Spot robot

  

The "Spot" robot, previously called "SpotMini", is is a four-legged dog-like robot developed by Boston Dynamics.

The nimble robot is 83 centimeters tall and is designed for a variety of search, inspection and delivery tasks. It can climb stairs and traverse rough terrain with unprecedented ease, yet it is small enough to use indoors. It is built to be a rugged (IP54 for dust and wet protection) and customizable platform. Spot can go where wheeled robots cannot, while carrying payloads with endurance far beyond aerial drones. The maximal speed is 1.6 m/s with a runtime of 90 minutes and the batteries are swappable. Spot uses five stereo cameras (360 degrees vision) to avoid obstacles and people as it moves through dynamic work sites.

It is unfortunately not possible to use the Spot SDK together with Webots. This is because this SDK doesn't include all the low level motion control functionalities which are necessary to control the simulated model. Re-writing these functionalities as open-source software or somehow reusing Boston Dynamics binary libraries could be a possibility enabling the creation of an interface between the Spot SDK and Webots. If you would like to contribute to such a project, please refer to this discussion.

Key Points

Features: 

•  The robot is controlled by a handheld device.

•  It can walk on four legs, similarly to a dog, climbs stairs and can traverse rough terrain with ease and small enough to be used indoors.

• It can measure skin temperature, breathing rate, pulse rate, and blood oxygen saturation in healthy patients, from 2 metres away.

•  It has four cameras — one infrared, three monochrome.

• Working:

• Body Temperature: The infrared camera measures skin temperature on the face.

• An algorithm then correlates the facial skin temperature with core body temperature.

• Breathing Rate: When a patient wearing a mask breathes, their breath changes the temperature of the mask.

• The infrared camera measures this temperature change, enabling researchers to calculate the breathing rate.

• Pulse Rate & Oxygen Level: When haemoglobin binds to oxygen and flows through blood vessels, it results in slight changes in colour.

• These changes are measured with the help of the three monochrome cameras, which filter lights of three different wavelengths.

• Using these measurements, the algorithm calculates pulse rate and blood oxygen saturation.

• Benefit:

• The robot can be deployed in areas where suspected cases of Covid-19 assemble. Healthcare workers can avoid exposing themselves to risk, by manoeuvring the robot to wherever patients are sitting.

• The robot can also carry a tablet that allows doctors to ask patients about their symptoms without being in the same room.