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Robot dogs find new homes in Washington’s security establishment as a Philadelphia-based firm builds new military companions to keep service members and other personnel out of danger.
Ghost Robotics showcased its four-legged creatures at a military show in DC this week. The firm recently hired lobbyists and was seen performing demonstrations in Northern Virginia.
Robot dogs’ ability to bite, bark and smell goes beyond what humans expect from a human best friend – these dogs can carry weapons, communicate via a loudspeaker, and detect biological, chemical, nuclear and radiation threats.
“The robot is a tool, isn’t it? It really is a tool for force multiplication; Ghost Robotics CEO Gavin Kenneally said in an interview:
Kenneally’s team maneuvered the “four-legged drone” using a Samsung tablet at the sprawling Modern Day Marine trade show in Washington, DC, where government and security customers were purchasing and testing the latest equipment offered by several hundred vendors.
Robot dogs can climb, crawl, walk and run, moving at a maximum speed of about ten feet per second. Mr. Keneally said the robots can also go underwater, and Ghost Robotics could develop software that teaches him to row through the water.
Saying that the robot’s durability and low noise level create advantages over other drones and robots, Keneally said that it takes about 15 minutes to assemble and disassemble the robots for repair.
“What we’re trying to do is keep all humans out of harm’s way and make sure the robot is what moves forward and does the benefit for us. [intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance] or inspection or security or whatever,” he said.
Ghost Robotics’ brochures for customers jointly list a number of U.S. and allied countries, including the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Department of Homeland Security, and Special Operations Command; Singapore Ministry of Defense; and the Australian Army, among others.
In February, DHS announced that it was using 100-pound robot dogs to help Customs and Border Protection officers patrol the southwestern border in a region of challenging landscapes and “extreme temperatures.”
Mr Kenneally said Ghost Robotics kept its government partners secret unless they agreed to the relationship, and earlier this year when asked about seeing robot dogs outside the Virginia office of CIA contract venture capital fund In-Q-Tel, he objected. .
“We are now starting to increase production,” said Mr. Kenneally. “And we see that on the Air Force side, for example, we’re seeing one base turn into many bases as there is more natural growth and people see what the robot can do.”
The Air Force said in 2020, Tyndall Air Force Base and the 325th Security Forces Squadron are working with Ghost Robotics and will include robot dogs in their patrol regiment.
Ghost Robotics’ website said the company has shipped more than 200 robots to more than 25 national security customers, and Mr Kenneally said the number of robots his company ships is increasing each week.
Launched in 2015, Ghost Robotics recruited Washington lobbyists from K&L Gates last month as the company moved from prototyping to final-stage testing and production. The company’s previous CEO, Jiren Narendra Parikh, died in March, and Mr. Keneally said the late CEO had prepared the company well for future success.
Mr Keneally said the company has asked lobbyists to provide information about its product, and said it has no approval issues or restrictions on sending robot dogs anywhere.
He said Ghost Robotics only sells to the US and its allies. He declined to specify the price for a robot dog and said customers should request a quote directly from Ghost Robotics so the firm can customize the robot package that best suits their needs. (Forbes reported in February that the robot costs around $150,000, and custom add-ons drive up the final price). A robot dog’s payload may include weapons, sensors, aerial drones or other vehicles.
The future of Ghost Robotics will likely go beyond computer dogs. According to its website, the company envisions the future of “next-generation mobile robots beyond quads, including human augmentation systems, manipulation systems, and futuristic hybrid mobility platforms.”
In Ghost Robotics’ vision of the future, the suit worn by the comic book character Iron Man looks more like reality than science fiction. Mr Keneally said Ghost Robotics’ technology in its robots has application to develop prosthetics and outerwear, which are wearable robotic tools that improve human functions.
Saying that the company has not yet worked on prosthetics and outerwear, Mr. Kenneally said that Ghost Robotics may explore such new tools in the future.
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