By the will of fate, I had to touch the future. It turned out to be quite pleasant to the touch. Although this is the case when it is not the dog itself that bites, but its price. I don't even know what to say ... I'd rather buy a dacha for myself in the suburbs for that kind of money. But the rich are said to have their quirks. And, yes, the dog is not mine.
If you are too lazy to read and watch pictures, I shot a very short video about a robotic bobby from Unitree A1 . I warn you right away that not a single dog was hurt during the filming. All stunts are performed by professional stuntmen. Don't try to repeat them.
As any theater starts with a coat rack, our robot dog A1 starts with a suitcase.
I must say that the case is very comfortable and outwardly differs little from any other suitcase. You must admit that you don't have to wait for heated horsemen to rush at you in order to take away your priceless luggage with such a cart.
By the way, if someone watched the Soviet film " The Adventures of Electronics ", there the main character, also a robot, was also transported in a suitcase.
Inside are compactly located: a robot, a joystick, a charger, an emergency shutdown panel, cables for connecting to a PC. By the way, it is worth noting that the dog has the purest open source inside.
In principle, the A1 is compact enough for its performance characteristics: 62 cm in length, a little over 12 kg in weight.
You can get into it using the Orthodox USB 3.0, HDMI or Ethernet slots.
I think that our guys from Parallels will be able to add a lot of things there.
Despite its size, the gizmo is quite simple to operate and very nimble. In sport mode, it moves at a speed of 3 meters per second. To put it mildly, it all looks impressive.
The dog's head is also very curious.
Thanks to it, the robot can build maps, shoot video and images in the infrared spectrum, in real time, and also move in the tracking mode for the selected object.
The contraption amazes with its smoothness and mobility of all joints.
The motors run relatively quietly, although the torso is warm to the touch after 40 minutes.
The manufacturers would like to express my respect, since they apparently managed to cram a lot of electronics into this not very large creature (the photo below is from the official website, I would never go inside myself).
One battery included. The second costs more than 100,000 rubles. It cannot be transported on airplanes. Tyrannize and test the strength of the case too.
From zero to full charge, the battery is charged in an hour.
The joystick can be charged in about 30 minutes. It is also very well made. Although the metal case in black color, in my opinion without a cover, will very quickly take on the appearance of a "world-famous". The one in the picture I took in my hands 6 times, but it already looks as if they were chopping nuts.
Of the minuses of the device, I would note:
- price (from 1.5 million to 4.5 million rubles in retail);
- no turning off the robot with one button (you need to remember a chain of different combinations before pulling the switch at the dog);
- a complex set of commands (combinations of buttons on the joystick) to switch the robot's operating modes;
- modest battery capacity;
- lack of sufficient protective covers on the case (there are rubber pads, but they are clearly not enough), every time the dog turns off and noisily falls on the tile, you feel a chill lower back, especially when you know how much this toy costs;
Plans and prospects
In fact, for all my initial skepticism, I can say that the device described above can already be used for commercial purposes. For example, law enforcement officers can use it to investigate mined premises. Security services could easily organize night patrols of the territory, etc.
In the future, such robots can work in the delivery of food, goods and other benefits of civilization. In short, the future came suddenly.