The U.S. Marine Corps put Boston Dynamics' Spot robot through a series of infantry drills over the weekend at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia, testing whether the four-legged machine can work alongside dismounted troops in various situations.
The robot was brought to the base by a team from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA. The agency has previously tested other Boston Dynamics robots, including the BigDog quadruped. Spot was unveiled by Boston Dynamics in February of this year. The company is a Google subsidiary.
Handlers gave the robot positive reviews. Capt. James Pineiro, who heads the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab's Quantico branch, said Marines have been receptive to the technology and have already generated many ideas for how Spot could be used. The Marine Corps sees potential for the robot to bolster the warfighting capabilities of dismounted infantry in the future.
One possible implication raised by the testing is that the Marine Corps may no longer need to rely on live dogs for certain tasks if robots like Spot can perform them. The drills did not include a timeline for deployment or a decision on whether Spot will be adopted.
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