The Chinese technology company Unitree Robotics is producing dozens of menacing four-legged robot dogs, according to a video showing the robots moving in unison.
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According to Unitree, the AI-powered robot – dubbed Aliengo – has a depth perception vision system, features “sports performance,” and is capable of adapting to complex terrain.
“It can realize full control of 3-axis posture and position, so it has strong multi-terrain adaptability and can run stably on rugged gravel roads and grass roads,” the company’s website states.
The dog-like robot also has a number of “special movements,” including fast running, backwards running, side-to-side movement, creeping forward, rollover, jumping, backflip, obstacle crossing, obstacle avoidance, and more.
Additionally, Aliengo can detect human posture and has facial recognition.
“The color camera can identify the specific posture of the person…and conduct human-machine interaction. The robot can make corresponding movements according to different body postures,” the website continues.
“When there is more than one person in the scene, someone can tell the robot to lock he/she by a certain posture (for example, raising the left hand). Thereafter, the robot will follow the movement of the target, even during the movement,” it adds.
The robot can carry a payload of 11 pounds.
LT. Gen. Michael Groen of the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center warned last year that China is ramping up its efforts to dominate the AI space by 2030.
“I hope that we’re thinking fast enough, and I think I hope that we’re thinking broadly enough about the transformational changes that are occurring not just in the information environment, but in all of our commercial activities, but also in defense, and the way warfighting is conducted, and the way the Department needs to prepare for that,” he said, according to the Daily Mail.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is also getting closer to deploying robot dogs to the US-Mexico border.
According to a DHS news release, the department’s research and development arm — the Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) — is offering U.S. Customs and Border Protection robot-dog technology that can enhance the agency’s capabilities and safety.
