This Robot Dog Looks Like A Dog And It Works By Voice Commands

A robot that resembles things in real life can be either cool or creepy, for example, the Sony Aibo is cute, but the Boston Dynamics SpotMini looks creepy. But the following robot, called Astro, developed by Florida Atlantic University, comes in between.

Astro is a robodog with four legs, which works in response to voice commands. He is able to move forward, sit, and stop on command, and it doesn’t chase squirrels.

The structure of this robot mimics the body real dogs. According to the University in a release:

For comparison, the Aibo robot from Sony carries the majority of its electronics in the body, and the SpotMini from Boston can work headless easily but it features an optional extending neck.

FAU posted a video featuring Astro in action as it goes for a stroll on the grass.

The robot is trying to think like a real dog does using its AI and deep learning tech in his computer “brain.” The researchers behind Astro wants to teach the robot so that it can respond to hand signals, multiple languages, colors as well as recognize different people.

Astro robot can have a lot of applications. He can not only sniff out explosive residue for the police but also assist responders and act as a service dog.

The Florida Atlantic University team includes biologists, artists, neuroscientists, and psychologists, with the hope to make Astro smart enough to make his own decisions using his experience database.

Different from Sony’s Aibo, Astro is like a lap dog. He is around 45 kilograms heavy, which is still much lighter than robots of his kind. However, Astro can become smarter than the average robodog.