Chinese multinational electronics giant Xiaomi announced the launch of its own robotic companion dubbed CyberDog. Similar to its competitors, like Boston Dynamics’ Spot, the bio-inspired machine is the company’s first foray into quadruped robotics.
The open-source CyberDog features 11 sensors over its body that provide instant feedback to guide its movements, while Xiaomi’s servo motors enable great speed and agility. The “brain” of the device is a NVIDIA AI supercomputer that allows it to easily process massive amounts of data, and Xiaomi’s smartphone imaging technology has been integrated into the tech to allow the CyberDog to better navigate its environment.
“This means that CyberDog can analyze its surroundings in real-time, create navigational maps, plot its destination, and avoid obstacles. Coupled with human posture and face recognition tracking, CyberDog is capable of following its owner and darting around obstructions,” the company said in a blog post.
The CyberDog also responds to voice commands and includes three type-C ports and one HDMI port, allowing developers to personalize the machine’s already-robust hardware and software systems for a variety of uses.
Xiaomi has released 1,000 units of CyberDog at RMB 9,999 ($1,540 USD) and has plans to set up a “Xiaomi Open Source Community” to share developer updates. In addition, the company has pledged to open a robotics laboratory “to provide a platform for engineers to continue the pursuit of future innovations.”
CyberDog is the latest innovation by the tech giant. In March, reports indicated that Xiaomi was also planning to produce electric vehicles.
