Robotic Dogs

Spot's Got an Arm!
Boston Dynamics
The addition of the arm makes this machine appear to be much more useful. Via Borepatch.



Petoi Bittle, now available on Indiegogo - a Realistic Palm-sized Robot Dog for STEM and Fun
Rongzhong Li
This popped up on YouTube. It looks to be pretty robust. I expect we'll be seeing some interesting / surprising / worrisome applications for this tiny machine.


Why SpaceX Bought a Robotic Dog
Primal Space
This video gives some examples where this machine might actually be useful for things besides playing games.

With the advances in robotic technology, I think we need to be working on some kind of AI (artificial intelligence) personality module, something we could talk to, that could make wisecracks and provide snarky sound bites for the evening news, i.e. something people could care about, which is what NASA needs to keep funding space exploration.