Robot dog Spot demonstrated on site in Finland

Trimble’s new Finland offices are coming along nicely, and this week a special visitor got to sniff around the construction site in Espoo: robot dog Spot, the result of Trimble’s collaboration with mobile robot developer Boston Dynamics. This is the first time Spot is used on NCC’s construction site in Finland.

Spot the robot dog connects Trimble’s precision data collection technology with Boston Dynamics’ robotics for the benefit of construction. It represents cutting-edge technology to automate processes and improve productivity and safety on the jobsite. Spot is part of the Finnish Building 2030 consortium and research project where Trimble is a member.

For example, Spot reduces the need to schedule countless hours of walking and waiting for scans and measurements and can do the dirty and dangerous work to keep workers safe. In a large geographic area, Spot with SPS986 can do precision topographic surveys. It can take on repetitive work, such as daily stockpile analysis, quality assurance, and as-built analysis, and keep the team out of extreme environmental conditions. There is an endless array of potential applications and benefits.

On site in Espoo, Spot skips along happily around the new office building and does not hesitate to climb the huge staircase, among other tricks. For the demonstration, it’s being controlled by Kim Nyberg, the leader of the Technology unit within Trimble Buildings, while Darren Thomson, Senior Software Developer at Trimble Navigation New Zealand, comments on the action from the other side of the globe.

Integrated with Trimble’s control software, Spot is equipped first with a camera, then with the Trimble X7 Scanner leased for the occasion by Kari Immonen from Finnish Trimble’s reseller Geotrim. Kept in direct line of sight with the remote control, Spot behaves very well and looks stable. It doesn’t obey verbal commands but it has a microphone, and its camera can be controlled with gestures. With sufficient bandwidth and a 4/5G base station, Spot can be controlled from anywhere in the world; all the way from New Zealand, for example.

After a proper demo tour indoors, Spot gets to walk outside in the sun, too. Surprised and excited, the site staff hurries over to snap photos with their mobile phones. When Spot gets tired, it docks to recharge.

For more information, please visit Trimble's website