Robotic dog employed to roam Adelaide streets in search of damaged power lines
SA Power Networks, which is using ‘treats’ to train Spot, assures public the AI canine’s job ‘is not to replace us’
A robotic dog is being trained to stroll the streets of suburban Adelaide to monitor power lines.
You may remember the Boston Dynamics’ “agile mobile robot” from such moments as dancing with Grimes, or policing social distancing in Singapore.
Nasa is also training him to explore caves on Mars.
And now utility company SA Power Networks is teaching Spot to look out for damaged infrastructure and other issues in its poles and wires network.
The nimble robot can scoot over uneven surfaces, carrying up to 14kg of equipment, such as cameras. It can avoid obstacles and pick itself up after a fall. It will take pictures to send to trained humans, freeing them up for other tasks and saving them from venturing into dangerous terrain.
And yes, SAPN is using treats to train it. It’s a form of artificial intelligence called reinforcement learning.
“Reinforcement learning for Spot is much like teaching a pet,” a spokesman says.
“In the same way as you give a pet treats to teach it a trick, Spot is rewarded with numbers when it does what we want.
“If it does a good thing, such as take a photo of a pole, it gets a positive reward, and if it does a bad thing such as go on to the road, it gets a negative reward. It is always trying to get a high score.”
SAPN’s video of Spot shows it analysing electricity poles (known as Stobie poles in South Australia). SAPN moved to reassure people that Spot is here to help, including vision of him dancing a merry little jig.
“We’ve heard Spot resembles the terrifying dog from the miniseries War of the Worlds,” the SAPN video says.
“Don’t worry! Spot’s job is not to replace us, but to help improve safety and efficiency.”
SAPN said along with drones and other technology, Spot will keep humans safe, help prevent outages and improve data collection.