Still Cute? Dystopian Robot Dogs Now Sporting Guns And Russian Insignia

Remember those ‘cute’ dancing dogs from (Japanese-owned) Boston Dynamics that were doing all sorts of maneuvers, pulling rickshaws, and opening doors with their ‘muzzles’?

Well, China has made their own version of ‘spot’ – except they strapped a gun onto it and adorned it with Russian special forces insignia.

As Sean Gallagher, a Senior Threat Researcher at Sophos points out, “All the people who laughed off the “worrywarts” years ago for freaking out about the Funny Dancing Robot Dogs ™ should be forced to watch this video once a day for the remainder of the year.“

All the people who laughed off the “worrywarts” years ago for freaking out about the Funny Dancing Robot Dogs ™ should be forced to watch this video once a day for the remainder of the year. pic.twitter.com/WBIrlGah3w

— Sean Chiplock (@sonicmega) July 20, 2022

More via Cyber News:

The design of the robot looks a lot like Go1 robot dog Unitree Robotics makes. For example, the back side of the device in the video exhibits a distinct pattern on a plastic covering between its hind legs. A similar design is visible on devices in Unitree’s promotional material.

The Hangzhou-based company is selling the Go1 model of the robot for $2,700 on its website, a fraction of over $75k that American-made Spot would cost its owner.

While the robot doesn’t seem to handle recoil very well with the gun on ‘burst fire’ mode, switching to a ‘semi-automatic’ setting allows the robot to hit targets without moving around too much.

The robot in the video has patches on its surfaces with insignia associated with the Russian military: a Russian flag on one side and what seems to be a Wolf, which Russian special forces use.

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News of the new Black Mirror combat bot comes a little more than a year after news that a French military academy had been using the Boston Dynamics’ ‘spot’ in field training exercises during a two-day session with the aim of “measuring the added value of robots in combat action,” said school commandant Jean-Baptiste Cavalier.

Local newspaper Ouest-France provided more details on the usefulness of the robot on the modern battlefield. 

Quand robots et élèves officiers s’entraînent ensemble sur le camp militaire de Coëtquidan 🤖 🪖

Pendant deux jours, 80 élèves officiers de l’EMIA ont manœuvré avec des alliés inattendus : les robots Spot, Nerva, Barracuda, Optio 20 et Ultro ➡️ https://t.co/avGjTaNYkc pic.twitter.com/t8xVoofRtC

— Ouest-France (@OuestFrance) April 3, 2021

Meanwhile, the NYPD halted a program using Boston Dynamics’ “Digidog,” after mounting uproar from the public and lawmakers over its $94,000 lease, and because it was extremely creepy.

That said, Cyber News continues:

Recently reports came out that the US Army had agreed to send one of its two Boston Dynamic-made robot dogs to Ukraine, where it will carry out demining operations around the capital Kyiv.

The robot dog will help an American non-profit HALO Trust remove unexploded ordnance, including cluster munitions, and drag them to be safely exploded in batches far from civilians.

Although Boston Dynamics prohibits using the Spot platform as a weapon, its possible application for military and law-enforcement purposes is evident.