Ford are using robot dogs to map their plants…creepy or cool?

Who let the dogs out? C’mon you could see that coming from a mile away. Apparently, Ford did, and it’s not the kinda sniffer dogs you find at airports. These are robotised, mechanical, and creepy AF, like something out of a Black Mirror episode…

Dogs, you say?

So what’s Ford’s deal with them dogs? Not something as sinister as hunting down idle workers and annihilating them, if that’s what you thought. No sir. They’ve leased two of these acute K-9s to map their Van Dyke Transmission Plant out in 3D, so Ford can have a better understanding of what tools they need to add or replace for new products.

Oh and, they’ve got names. Fluffy (could there be anything more fluffy?) and the original name on the box, Spot. Seriously, Ford, you couldn’t have come up with a second name for Fluffy’s playdate? Spot ain’t gonna be happy…Don’t go crying to Boston Dynamics when one of your guys disappears, and all that’s left of him is an ominous blood trail…

Deploying these canine creepers isn’t the worst idea in the world. They’re both equipped with five traditional 3D cameras on tripods each in order to capture 360-degree images of areas in the plant. They can go up and down stairs, and kneel to scan hard-to-reach areas. They’re lithe but not that quick (around 5 km/h), and last 2 hours on a single charge.

Not fully autonomous…yet

Okay, they’re not entirely self-sufficient (phew!). Paula Wiebelhaus, their handler, manages the twin terrors using a controller with a display that shows her what the dogs see. It’s all fun and games until the radio signal fails, and they turn from Benji to Cujo in a snap…

But Paula may have to dog sit elsewhere soon, as Ford actually want to make these mechanical mutts autonomous. They’ve even suggested they could ride on the back of their mobile robot, Scouter, which is also being used to capture 3D images of its environment. Scare Plant: starring Uggie the Parson Russel Terrier as Fluffy, coming to a home premier near you.

The new normal

It wasn’t always robots and AI for Ford. In traditional times, they combed through their plants using an old school camera and a tripod. It took two weeks and cost $300,000. WTF, which tripod and camera pairing costs nearly $300,000 big ones? Or did most of that go towards Carl’s hourly rate?

Well, it looks like the 5 km/h dogs are faster, cheaper and, yes, creepier. But hey, s’long as they work, Ford aren’t complaining…yet…

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