Cyberdog

The Chinese company Xiaomi presented a four-legged robot very similar to the famous Boston Dynamics Spot but with some differences: it is open-source and it is relatively cheap.

CyberDog is based on the NVIDIA Jetson Xavier NX chip, and features 11 different sensors scattered throughout the body. These include ultrasonic sensors, touch, video cameras and GPS receivers; working together, they allow CyberDog to perceive the environment around it. Xiaomi claims that the robot is able to move autonomously in the environment in which it is located, and to follow its master everywhere. Even if the environment is crowded, the system is able to recognize and track posture and features.

Each device costs around € 1,300, but wait until you pull out your credit card. CyberDog will not be available for purchase by anyone: Xiaomi aims to distribute 1,000 of them to fans, engineers and developers in order to explore the capabilities of CyberDog all together, in an open-source community of reference.

Stefano Ravizza
NP August / September 2021