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2019 will be the year of commercial class legged robots. That was the message delivered by Agility Robotics and Boston Dynamics during their respective opening and closing keynotes at the inaugural Robotics Summit & Showcase , produced by The Robot Report and WTWH Media in Boston. Agility Robotics CEO and co-founder Damion Shelton updated attendees on its Cassie bipedal robot. Boston Dynamics co-founder and CEO Marc Raibert quickly discussed the wheel-leg hybrid robot Handle, which he said we’ll hear more about in 2019 with a real application, while focusing more on the Atlas bipedal and SpotMini quadruped robots. Raibert conducted a live demo of SpotMini (watch below) where the robot traversed a small obstacle and picked up a soda can and handed it to Raibert. Neither company claims legged robots are a fit for every application. “If we evolved with wheels, I’m sure our environments would be good for wheels, too,” Shelton said. Raibert and Shelton both described potential applications for their robots, including construction, delivery, disaster relief and surveillance, but the availability of commercial class legged robot platforms to build upon will lead to innovative ideas. Raibert showed video of Spot, the older version of SpotMini, being tested for home deliveries. He said Spot was sent to the homes of 20 employees, with the consent of their significant others, of course, and they had about 70-80 percent success rate. Attendees pack the room to hear Agility Robotics’ CEO Damion Shelton deliver the opening keynote at the Robotics Summit & Showcase. (Credit: Derek Little/WTWH Media) Legged robots gearing up for production Cassie is gearing up for its second production run in July 2018, while SpotMini is in pre-production preparing for commercial availability in 2019. SpotMini will be the first robot Boston Dynamics commercialized in its 26-year history. Raibert would […]