Ever wish you could own a robotic pet dog that you can take it out for a walk and without having to clean up after it? Technically, you already can – if you have US$74,000 to drop. There are cheaper options, but Aibo is not quite as intelligent as Spot and some robotic dogs are either too small or still too expensive. This is where Xiaomi, the maker of many wonderful and affordable gadgets, comes in.
The company has revealed that it is getting into robotics – specifically, a robotic dog. Dubbed Cyberdog [CH], this bionic quadruped robot is an open-source robot companion that developers can build upon. Xiaomi is inviting robotic enthusiasts and developers to further develop the Cyberdog.
Powering the robot dog are servo motors developed by Xiaomi’s engineers that promised “great speed, agility7, and a wide range of motion.” Xiaomi said the maximum torque output and rotational speed is up to 32 Nm (24 lb-ft) and 220 RPM.
This enables Cyberdog to execute high-speed movements at up to 3.2 m/s (10.5 ft/s) and oh, did we mention that it can do backflip too? Take that Boston Dynamics.
However, Xiaomi did not develop the brain. Instead, its robotic team is leveraging on NVIDIA Jetson Xavier NX platform, an AI Supercomputer for Embedded and Edge Systems which includes 384 CUDA® Cores, 48 Tensor Cores, a 6 Carmel ARM CPU, and 2 deep learning acceleration engines.
The bionic creature is outfitted with no less than high-precision sensors, including touch and ultrasonic sensors, GPS modules, cameras, and SLAM, – just to name a few, to enable autonomous operations. Also built into it are 128 GB of “near industrial-grade” SSD and a 6-microphone array. Cyberdog has a payload of 3 kilograms (6.6 lbs).
Xiaomi is making a thousand units of Cyberdog available to the public, each going for just 9,999 yuan (about US$1,544). It is cheap by robotic dog standards, though it is hardly a completed product.
Xiaomi fans, engineers, and robotic enthusiasts are expected to explore the potential of the Cyberdog and share their progress on Xiaomi Open Source Community. Moving forward, the company will set up a robotics lab to further explore robotic developments. Anyone who is interested may want to learn more over a blog post by Xiaomi.
Images: Xiaomi [CH].
