'Spot': A Robot That Could Help Doctors Remotely Treat Covid-19 Patients

https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/04/24/844770815/meet-spot-the-robot-that-could-help-doctors-remotely-treat-covid-19-patients

by bottle2 • 6 years ago

15 19 6 years ago

npr.org

bottle2• 6 years ago

The main picture seems like something out of a science fiction nightmare

empath75• 6 years ago

We've been living in a science fiction nightmare since 2016, I think.

hprotagonist3• 6 years ago

This is your monthly reminder that Boston Dynamics is exceptionally good at product demos.

It remains much less clear that they’re any good at anything else.

Also, Spot looks like a Houndeye to me, so i keep waiting for it to make “wheeeennnnnnn BAM” noises.

me_me_me• 6 years ago

It remains much less clear that they’re any good at anything else.

They are also exceptionally good at building impressive robots.

hprotagonist3• 6 years ago

Not to be too blunt here, but: besides very impressive numbers of youtube views, what have those robots accomplished, in a “we have deployed X thousand of these in the following Y situations” sense, since 2006?

I’m (way more than) fine with blue sky work, and BD deserves credit for not building weapons, but at the same time there’s an impedance mismatch here.

jansan• 6 years ago

I do not understand the purpose of this. Can't the patients simply make a video call with their smartphones?

I mean, if spot had a small barrel with brandy around his neck, just like the St. Bernhard dogs allegedly did, now that would be something...

tomcooks• 6 years ago

From the github repo[0]: - Telepresence and telemedicine - Remote vital inspection - Disinfecting hospital rooms - Internal delivery

[0] https://github.com/boston-dynamics/bosdyn-hospital-bot

ragebol• 6 years ago

Something simpler can work just as well or much easier and this holds for many many problems or tasks. To do dishes, we do not have robot arms holding a brush but dishwashers. Think of a Roomba vs. robot with a sweeper etc. Instead of a robot stocking shelves in a super market, just have home delivery and cut out the shelves entirely. Cooking robots vs. microwave meals.

The issue with all of the above is that each of those can only do 1 task (and do it well). Humans can do multiple things well while reusing the same bits for multiple tasks. A mopping and a vacuum robot are very much alike and share a huge portion of the software and hardware. <strike>Robots</strike> Tools like a Roomba need to be cheap enough to warrant their cost for a task you only need a X times a week/day/moth/year. So, a Roomba is has to be cheap enough. Spot (and other robots) are more expensive but also more versatile and should be capable of doing more tasks.

But, finally, robots bringing beer, yes, the holy grail of robotics!

jawns• 6 years ago

Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't see how Spot eliminates the potential for virus transmission, especially if it's performing up-close checking of vitals on multiple patients.

Granted, Spot can't contract or respirate COVID-19, so it doesn't need a mask or a gown, but unless it's taking a rubbing alcohol bath between each patient visit, couldn't the virus still be transmitted via surface contact?

prox• 6 years ago

It doesn’t breathe and it’s easier to wipe clean, which pretty much makes it impossible to transmit Covid. Don’t know how it takes vitals, but they probably use clean instruments for each test one can assume.

_ea1k• 6 years ago

I'm assuming that they can use some relatively harsh chemicals on the robot that wouldn't necessarily be safe for a person. And obviously not being able to respirate the illness is a significant improvement.

bitwize• 6 years ago

If I saw this escapee from a Metal Gear game coming in to check up on me, my first instinct would be to run, or perhaps hide under the nearest cardboard box of sufficient size.

spookybones• 6 years ago

Also makes me think of Half Life

317070• 6 years ago

Why not have wheels?

What is it that makes spot better at telepresence, telemedicine, remote vital inspection, internal delivery or disinfecting hospital rooms than, say, a roomba platform?

earthtourist• 6 years ago

I wonder how it is cleaned. Parts of it look like they might be hard to clean effectively. Is it water resistant and capable of being (safely) sprayed down with a disinfectant?

neuronexmachina• 6 years ago

I wonder if it would make sense to use the telepresence bots from Double Robotics for something like this. It seems to have similar capabilities (I'm assuming there aren't many stairs on the hospital floor) and costs an order of magnitude less: https://www.doublerobotics.com/

'Spot': A Robot That Could Help Doctors Remotely Treat Covid-19 Patients

Related Stories