Pets are a man’s best friend, but they’re a lot of work — feeding, washing, walks and cleaning can really take its toll.
A pet that not only cleans up after itself, but cleans up for you? Now, that’s the dream.
Thanks to Boston Dynamics, it could soon be a reality.
The robotics company — owned by Alphabet, Google’s parent company — released a video of its newest project, the “SpotMini,” on Thursday.
The robot weighs between 55 and 65 pounds, which is about the size of a smaller golden retriever. According to the video, the robot can play tug of war, dance and go up and down stairs just like man’s best friend. But most importantly, with human assistance, SpotMini can do household chores like cleaning dishes and taking out the garbage.
SpotMini even recovered from a prat fall after slipping on some banana peels.
According to TechCrunch, SpotMini is completely electric and runs for about 90 minutes between charges.
Boston Dynamics made headlines in February when their Atlas robots were shown navigating through doors and down snowy slopes — and taking a beating from their human creators.
Alex Hider is a writer for the E.W. Scripps National Desk. Follow him on Twitter @alexhider.
