Boston Dynamics' Spot Will Work as a Safety Inspector at Hyundai's Factory
Hyundai Motor Group is launching its first project with Boston Dynamics, the "Factory Safety Service Robot," to support working conditions at industrial sites. The Factory Safety Service Robot, based on the quadruped Spot robot, will be put into operation at Kia's plant in South Korea.
The robot, which features applied artificial intelligence, autonomous navigation, remote control technologies and computing capacity, was developed by Hyundai's robotics lab and will be used for various industrial tasks.
A video published by the automaker shows that hyundai's Spot differs from the Boston Dynamics robot seen in previous videos. Hyundai's robotics lab has equipped it with a genuine "backpack with many upgrades," necessary for work in a factory.
“The Factory Safety Service Robot is the first joint project with Boston Dynamics. The robot will help detect risks and ensure the safety of people at industrial facilities. We will also continue to create intelligent services that detect hazards at production sites and help maintain a safe working environment through ongoing cooperation with Boston Dynamics”
Thanks to its built-in thermal imaging camera and 3D LiDAR, the robot can detect people around it, monitor high-temperature areas and potential fire hazards, and determine whether a door is open or closed. The bot can be remotely controlled through a secure web page that provides a live stream of its movements around the facility, allowing office staff to monitor industrial areas remotely. Artificial intelligence technology enables it to detect hazards and send alarms to managers.
Based on these features, the robot shares photos of site conditions and an activity log with the control center in real time, and supports rapid response in an emergency by sending an alarm to the control page. Managers can switch to manual remote control when needed to take a closer look at important industrial facilities. It is also possible to connect several Factory Service Safety Robots to the control system to inspect different zones simultaneously.
The quadruped bot can move through narrow spaces and detect blind spots that are hard to see with the human eye. Applying Hyundai's technologies to Boston Dynamics' Spot also gives the device enhanced autonomy features. Drawing on the company's experience in developing service robots, the new assistant is equipped with various technologies suited for autonomous patrolling in industrial environments, including task management and deep learning-based machine vision.
The automaker applied several of its own technologies to the robot, including artificial intelligence for detecting people, a thermal imaging camera for detecting high-temperature risks, LiDAR for recognizing doorways, and navigation technology that allows it to move autonomously along designated routes at industrial facilities. All of this can be extended to other types of mobile robot platforms.
As part of a pilot operation at Kia's plant in South Korea, the company will use the robot to support night patrols and create safer conditions for workers. Hyundai Motor Group will also test the robot's concept and evaluate its effectiveness and applicability before expanding patrol areas and considering additional deployment at other industrial facilities.
Spot has found a new job, and this time it is not related to a potential role on the battlefield. In summer 2021, the robot was tested by the French army during training at a military school in northwestern France. The main goal of the exercises was to make students think about how robots could be used in future combat situations. Spot was mainly used for reconnaissance.
First, students practiced combat scenarios without robots, and then with them. The bots slowed the operation down but ensured the troops' safety: one soldier said he "died" in the first drill without Spot, but survived the second time thanks to the robot's reconnaissance.
In 2021, Hyundai Motor Group acquired a controlling stake in Boston Dynamics to develop robotic technologies that improve people's lives and promote safety. The development of robotics technologies will create synergy with the company's industrial facilities, autonomous vehicles and future Urban Air Mobility solutions.
It is worth noting that the "original" Spot recently received a major update that gave it the ability to dynamically plan routes, run pre-scheduled missions unattended, collect any required data, connect to many systems, use sound alerts and, finally, open different types of door handles.
