Autonomous AI robot dog to help with the excavation of drug labs
The Dutch police are already using a remote-controlled robot dog to raid drug laboratories. Now it should also be able to act autonomously.
Boston Dynamics (Screenshot)
In the future, the Dutch police will be using robot dogs to safely explore drug laboratories. The four-legged robot will help to map and inspect the laboratories in advance. The use of the robot dog is intended to prevent police officers from being injured by exploding drug labs during raids.
The Dutch police have been using the Spot robot dog from Boston Dynamics in drug lab raids since 2021. Three to four missions are carried out every week. If such a lab is in operation and is stopped, it can explode. That is why police officers only go into the laboratories wearing protective clothing. However, this has the disadvantage that they cannot move as quickly.
Autonomous operation
Until now, Spot has been controlled remotely by an operator. Now the police want to deploy an autonomous robot dog. It will be able to explore a drug lab on its own and determine that no criminals are present. It will also be able to map the lab, detect dangerous chemicals with sensors and dispose of them in a safe container with its robotic arm. Initial tests with Spot have shown that the four-legged robot is capable of autonomously exploring and mapping a drug lab measuring 15 m x 20 m.
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The Dutch police believe that the use of autonomous robot dogs minimizes the risk of police officers being injured by an explosion when shutting down a drug lab.
(olb)
