PSA: if you or someone nearby are being brutalized by a police Spot robot and can get a hand or something underneath, grab this handle and yank it forward. This releases the battery, instantly disabling the robot.
Keep your hands away from joints, Spot WILL crush your fingers.
Keep your hands away from joints, Spot WILL crush your fingers.
If you are a bystander and can get BEHIND spot, don't hit the power button, hit the OTHER button - it physically disconnects the motors.
Spot can also be countered with booby traps easily.
If you're armed, shoot center-of-mass as normal. The lithium pack is huge and not armored
Spot can also be countered with booby traps easily.
If you're armed, shoot center-of-mass as normal. The lithium pack is huge and not armored
Spot is also purely optical, meaning paint, dust, a sheet or blanket, sticky tape, etc can severely impair it.
Original stereo cameras on the face. 360 camera, pan/tilt/zoom cam, and LIDAR rangefinders on accessory rails.
Original stereo cameras on the face. 360 camera, pan/tilt/zoom cam, and LIDAR rangefinders on accessory rails.
If you're feeling creative, and can prepare beforehand, Spot is literally just controlled with an Android tablet. In manual (as in, non-autonomous) mode, Spot is literally just communicating over Wifi.
A WiFi jammer based on an ESP2866 is $40 on Amazon, just sayin.
A WiFi jammer based on an ESP2866 is $40 on Amazon, just sayin.
There are, of course, military versions in the works that probably get rid of most of these vulnerabilities but police departments are buying the civilian ones just cause they can.
The quick-change batteries, safety cutout, wifi control, etc make plenty of sense for the ADVERTISED usage cases of disaster recovery, warehousing, power plant maintenance, HAZMAT, EOD, etc as this isn't even supposed to get within 2 meters of anyone while running.
The quick-change batteries, safety cutout, wifi control, etc make plenty of sense for the ADVERTISED usage cases of disaster recovery, warehousing, power plant maintenance, HAZMAT, EOD, etc as this isn't even supposed to get within 2 meters of anyone while running.
Throwback article.
"We saw no other option but to use our bomb robot and place a device on its extension for it to detonate where the suspect was,” Dallas police chief David Brown told reporters.
“As far as I know, it appears to be the first intentional use of a lethally armed robot by the police in the United States,” said Elizabeth Joh, law professor at the University of California at Davis.
"We saw no other option but to use our bomb robot and place a device on its extension for it to detonate where the suspect was,” Dallas police chief David Brown told reporters.
“As far as I know, it appears to be the first intentional use of a lethally armed robot by the police in the United States,” said Elizabeth Joh, law professor at the University of California at Davis.