Boston Dynamics has used its robotics and artificial intelligence mastery to do something never before — make seven Spot robots dance to the popular BTS song "IONIQ: I'm On It." It's a showcase of the robot's powerful AI, complex software that allows a stunt like this to be possible, and is just a lot of fun to watch.
Spot is the iconic robot that's been featured on the internet in countless ways over the years. From videos of it falling over during testing to it dancing to "Uptown Funk" in 2018, the dog-like robot is no stranger to anyone that's spent enough time online. As humorous as it can be, Spot is actually a commercial-grade machine with endless real-world use cases — whether it be for use on construction sites, aiding with manufacturing work, or even being used for public safety. The $74,500 robot is an incredible feat of technology, but that doesn't mean creator Boston Dynamics doesn't like to have a little fun with it every now and then.
On June 29, Boston Dynamics shared a 77-second video of not one, not two — but seven Spot robots dancing to BTS's "IONIQ: I'm On It." The video showcases an incredible amount of choreography and synchronization across the robots, with them jumping, swaying, and moving their arms/claws perfectly to the beat of the music. It's nothing short of impressive.
How Boston Dynamics Pulled Off Spot's Latest Dance
While the video is a sight to behold on its own, it becomes that much more jaw-dropping to read about how exactly Boston Dynamics achieved this. While the Spot robots may appear to be listening to the music and dancing in rhythm to it, that's not at all what's happening. As smart as Spot may be, it doesn't understand what music is. Instead, Boston Dynamics had to create countless timers and movement patterns using Spot's software. These things were created in tune with the BTS song, and after a lot of trial and error, the result is seen in the video above.
Commenting on the creation process of this project, Boston Dynamics roboticist — Eric Whitman — says, "There were a lot of challenges around getting the vision of our choreographer, who’s used to dealing with human dancers, into our software. Everything had to be worked out in advance and scripted precisely. Robots have the advantage over humans in that they’re very repeatable: Once you get it right, it stays right. But they have the disadvantage that you have to tell them every little detail. They don’t improvise at all." Once choreographer Monica Thomas had the dance routine figured out, she handed it off to the Spot team to implement in its 'Choreographer' software module. Anyone with Spot can use Choreographer, enabling Spot to dance to virtually any routine using a drag-and-drop interface. Getting all of this done precisely is tricky enough for one Spot, meaning it was that much more challenging to perfect a dance routine consisting of seven of them.
If these dance routines are so difficult to do, why bother with them in the first place? As Whitman explains, "Dancing is a form of highly accelerated lifecycle testing for the hardware." Getting Spot to walk and climb normally took years for Boston Dynamics to pull off, so with these extravagant dance routines, the company can analyze new movement scenarios and how Spot reacts to them. These dance exercises helped Boston Dynamics realize that Spot could damage its knee when slamming it on the ground too hard, resulting in the company using stronger materials to give it better durability. And, of course, it's a way for the Boston Dynamics team to let off some steam and stretch their creative muscles. It's unclear what the future holds for Spot's next dance routine, but whatever it is, it's bound to be every bit as cute and unnerving as this one.
Source: Boston Dynamics