Who Let the Bots Out? Robot Dogs on the Job

They are being trained as guide dogs and used in surveillance and inspection work

- Osmond Chia

They detect intruders, inspect danger zones and guide the blind. Robot dogs have found no shortage of work in Singapore — taking on jobs in underground maintenance areas, construction sites and even in social services.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, one such robot dog named Spot was deployed as a safe distancing ambassador in Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park. More recently, another robot dog accompanied PSP candidate Tony Tan on a walkabout as part of his election campaigning.

The trend here reflects the robot dog's popularity globally, where more of such devices have been deployed as police dogs, in war zones and even in nuclear plants.

Robot dogs — or quadruped robots — were made popular by Boston Dynamics, a robotics firm spun off from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which launched Spot in 2016 after several iterations.

Since then, manufacturers — including several from China — have developed their own versions of Spot, which are often deployed in conditions deemed hazardous for humans.

In Singapore, National Robotics Programme (NRP) deputy director Chan U-Gene said more companies have deployed robot dogs here, especially for surveillance and inspection operations, amid the strong growth of the robotics sector.

The NRP, which aims to support the robotics industry to boost efficiency, documented more than 300 robotics-related firms in its database, up from around 200 companies in 2023, said Mr Chan.

Although the NRP does not track the number of robot dogs in deployment, he said more firms are exploring the use of the legged forms, which are more mobile and adaptable for various conditions, like stairs and outdoor terrain, compared with standard wheeled robots.

With more manufacturers such as those from China entering the market, robot dogs now cost as little as US$2,700 (S$3,500) — only a fraction of the US$75,000 that Boston Dynamics initially charged.