Mark Megahan
Russians take their home security seriously. Paranoia is almost a national pastime. It seems they also have their version of rednecks who enjoy doing things like bolt a machine gun on a robot dog for fun. In the right hands, it’s actually a pretty neat idea which could be better after some of the bugs are worked out, like adding more leg stability or a system to handle the recoil. In the wrong hands, you wouldn’t want to see one of these running through a shopping mall.
Security from an armed watchdog
It has a doglike appearance but don’t let that fool you, its just another security droid. One which happens to be heavily armed. It probably started out as one of those off the shelf models available to anyone, with a sub-machine gun haphazardly bolted on.
Someone else is firing the gun and controlling the motion, but they could be doing it from another state if they wanted to.
It isn’t a Boston Dynamics Spot, just a knock off. Even so, this Russian Rover is packing heat. Obviously Rover wasn’t designed for a career in security but that doesn’t mean he won’t do his best to scare the bejeezus out of an early morning burglar.
His bark is a lot worse than the accuracy of his bite but adjusting the aim a little lower to compensate and spraying in an arc should still be quite effective. Does it really matter all that much if the recoil blasts him back on his hind legs a little and his aim is crap? That depends on the application, of course.
Experts who have a lot of time on their hands to examine such things closely note that the security droid model in the video “appears to be a UnitreeYusu ‘technology dog‘ selling on AliExpress for about $3,000. The feet, port placement, and joint coverings are all the same.”
This one also “has strips of Velcro on either of its flanks. The left flank bears a Russian flag and the other appears with a wolf’s head.” His owner appears to wear a similar patch on his arm. The insignia is “commonly associated with Russian Special Operations Forces or Spetsnaz. That doesn’t mean that Spetsnaz is using armed robot dogs, as pretty much anyone can buy a similar patch online.”
Founder of HOVERSURF
The weapon and the armored vehicle in the video are also obviously Russian. Internet detectives say the clip was originally posted on “the YouTube account of Alexander Atamov on March 22, 2022. Atamov is listed on his LinkedIn profile as the founder of ‘HOVERSURF’ and his Facebook page lists him as living in Moscow.”
Not only that, he “posted a picture of the robot dog on March 21. According to Facebook’s translation of his post, he called the dog ‘Skynet.‘” That was before he bolted on a PP-19 Vityaz sub-machine gun for added security.
Privacy and rights advocates are going spastic because folks are already “doing questionable things with the Boston Dynamics robot dogs.” The NYPD has “sent them on patrol in apartment buildings and cops in Hawaii used them to take the temperatures of its homeless population during the pandemic.”
Those ones weren’t armed. Other companies are already building specially designed security versions. “Ghost Robotics showed off a robot dog with a gun pod built onto its back.”
The military versions are even scarier. The Army’s real flesh and blood canines are getting a security upgrade too. “Military working dogs are entering augmented reality, thanks to the service’s investment in a company developing AR goggles for canines.”
The robot ones already have night vision and artificial intelligence targeting enhancement available in future editions.
