Name: Boston Dynamics starts selling its Spot robot — for $74,500
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Boston Dynamics starts selling its Spot robot — for $74,500

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×Please wait...Were you unable to attend Transform 2022? Check out all of the summit sessions in our on-demand library now! .Boston Dynamics today opened commercial sales of Spot, its quadruped robot that can climb stairs and traverse rough terrain. Businesses can purchase the Spot Explorer developer kit for $74,500 at . Spot Explorer includes the robot, two batteries, the battery charger, the tablet controller, a robot case, a power case, and Python client packages for Spot APIs. Boston Dynamics will also be selling Spot payloads, and customers will get software updates “when available.” The company is offering free shipping for a limited time — the website currently states that Spot Explorer ships in six to eight weeks.The announcement marks a couple of milestones for the company founded in 1992. It’s the first time businesses can purchase a Boston Dynamics robot directly. It’s also the company’s first online sales offering. Spot is only for sale in the U.S. for commercial and industrial use, but the company hopes to expand internationally this year. “We plan to manufacture around a thousand Spots in the next year but can increase that based on the demand,” a Boston Dynamics spokesperson told VentureBeat. “We are exploring opportunities for enabling sales overseas this year.” The company was originally planning to finish building 1,000 Spots by mid-2020, but the coronavirus pandemic disrupted that timeline.You can only buy up to two Spots via Boston Dynamics’ shopping portal. If you want more units, the company has two other pricing tiers: Academic (discount for accredited educational institutions) and Enterprise (more sensors, software integration, communications infrastructure, and robot fleet management). Businesses will have to about larger purchases and third-party solutions.MetaBeat 2022MetaBeat will bring together thought leaders to give guidance on how metaverse technology will transform the way all industries communicate and do business on October 4 in San Francisco, CA.Boston Dynamics has a timely sales pitch. COVID-19 has opened the door wider to autonomous technologies like and . As businesses cautiously reopen, everyone is desperate for technology that can limit human contact. In April, Boston Dynamics after deploying a Spot unit to help a hospital’s health care providers remotely triage patients. The Spot robot featured an iPad and a two-way radio for video conferencing. Spot’s modular platform (mounting rails, payload ports, and SDK) is what sets it apart.Boston Dynamics designed Spot to “go where other robots can’t go and to perform a broad number of tasks.” Thanks to its add-ons, Spot can be reconfigured for use cases ranging from increasing efficiency to reducing safety risks.Boston Dynamics is selling the following Spot add-ons on its website:Boston Dynamics is also offering a premium service plan with one year of extended coverage and expedited repair for $15,000.Spot was previously only available for short-term lease under Boston Dynamics’ . Through the program, over 150 Spot robots were placed in domestic and international businesses and research facilities. The company says it will continue to lease Spot robots to customers in select international markets via the program.Boston Dynamics highlighted how Spot has helped a few early adopters:Spot robots have been used to document construction progress, monitor remote or hazardous environments, and provide situational awareness in environments like power generation facilities, decommissioned nuclear sites, factory floors, construction sites, and research laboratories. Spot has also been used to explore projects for creative industries, such as dancing on stage and performing in theme parks.Now that any business can purchase a Spot, we asked the company whether it would sell to police departments. “To the extent that our robots are designed to take on tasks that may prove dangerous to human safety for public safety officers, like inspecting a suspicious package or responding to hazmat incidents, yes, Spot is available for purchase,” a Boston Dynamics spokesperson told VentureBeat. “However, they are not designed to replace police officers or carry out the work done by police officers. Our standard terms, which prohibit using the robots to physically harm or intimidate people, apply to all customers.”In addition to Spot, Boston Dynamics also , its robot that can manipulate boxes, thanks to a 3D-vision system. In November, , he categorized the company’s next three robots by time: today (Spot), tomorrow (Handle), and the future (Atlas).Handle is the mobile version of Pick. Raibert called it the “tomorrow” robot because Pick was still in the prototype stage. At the time, Raibert expected it to ship in about a year and a half (i.e. 2021).Raibert called Atlas the “future” robot because it’s always in the prototype stage. At the time, Raibert didn’t think the company would ever ship Atlas.We asked for an update on these robots. “Handle should be available for sale in the next two years, and we have no plans to commercialize Atlas at this point,” a Boston Dynamics spokesperson told VentureBeat. Handle’s timeline might be slipping, while plans for Atlas have not changed. Today, Spot is for sale.VentureBeat's mission is to be a digital town square for technical decision-makers to gain knowledge about transformative enterprise technology and transact.Join metaverse thought leaders in San Francisco on October 4 to learn how metaverse technology will transform the way all industries communicate and do business.Did you miss a session from Transform 2022? Head over to the on-demand library for all of our featured sessions.We may collect cookies and other personal information from your interaction with ourwebsite.For more information on the categories of personal information we collect and the purposes we usethem for,please view our

×Please wait...Were you unable to attend Transform 2022? Check out all of the summit sessions in our on-demand library now! .Boston Dynamics today opened commercial sales of Spot, its quadruped robot that can climb stairs and traverse rough terrain. Businesses can purchase the Spot Explorer developer kit for $74,500 at . Spot Explorer includes the robot, two batteries, the battery charger, the tablet controller, a robot case, a power case, and Python client packages for Spot APIs. Boston Dynamics will also be selling Spot payloads, and customers will get software updates “when available.”...

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Emil Protalinski writes breaking tech news. He has previously written for The Next Web, CNET, ZDNet, Techspot, Ars Technica, and Neowin.

Boston Dynamics starts selling its Spot robot — for $74,500

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