Mizzou had a robot named Spot dance with Golden Girls at halftime of Saturday’s game
If a robot can dance at halftime of a football game, can Skynet really be that far behind?
Fans of the “Terminator” movies will get that joke, but no kidding, a robot really did perform Saturday at halftime of Mzzou’s football game against Tennessee.
Missouri’s college of engineering shared a video of the robot from Boston Dynamics that performed with the marching band and the Golden Girls dance squad at Faurot Field.
You can see that in the video, which went viral, above.
According to Boston Dynamics, Spot can be controlled by “using an intuitive tablet application and built-in stereo cameras.”
Spot’s dance routine was a bit out of the ordinary because the robot is designed to traverse surfaces more challenging that a football field.
Dale Musser, an associate teaching professor at Missouri’s college of engineering, explained more about Spot in an interview with Eric Stann, a research news strategist at Mizzou.
“Spot is interesting because it already has built-in software allowing it to navigate environments, avoid objects, recognize things and carry out tasks,” Musser told Stann in a article for “Show Me Mizzou.” “Now, we are working to develop software for Spot that meets the need for use cases, or the way we apply technology to solve a problem. For example, companies are already using Spot for projects such as monitoring and inspecting large construction projects or oil rigs.”
One other application: dancing at halftime of a football game.
