OPPO posted on its YouTube channel a teaser dedicated to the new QRIC robo-dogs. This is an abbreviation for Quadrupedal Robotic with Intelligent Controller, which translates as “four-legged robot with an intelligent controller”. This companion robot is likely to compete with the Boston Dynamics Spot and Xiaomi CyberDog models.
The video is about a boy who plays with QRIC and builds a toy space rocket. The video demonstrates some of the capabilities of the robot, which acts as an electronic pet. Robodog is capable of:
- walk
- jump
- tip over
- carry items
- recognize people using sensors placed in front of the case
- act as a webcam for video calls. Also QRIC can be controlled by voice commands or from a smartphone app.
Competitors
There are few such robots on the market today. The first competitor is the Xiaomi CyberDog robot dog, which was released in a limited edition of 1000 pieces at a price of $ 1,500. It is likely that the price of QRIC will be in the same range.
As for the Boston Dynamics Spot, it is difficult to call it a direct competitor, because it is much more technologically advanced, more expensive and has a completely different scope, although it can also be used as a very expensive toy.
The difference in these three robots is that the QRIC robot is presented as a toy and a home helper and companion for children and parents. If we talk about the Xiaomi robot, then we most likely will not see the difference with QRIC. So, the principle of operation of these robots is the same, they are able to control smart home devices, withstand a load of up to 3 kg, do various tricks and walk next to the owner. But if we rely on the video, then the difference lies in the fact that QRIC is still a family assistant who can be left with the child and who can connect the baby with the parents at any second. And Xiaomi presents their product as a replacement for a pet that can follow you, perform various commands and tricks. Rather, Xiaomi’s cyberdogs are more of a toy than QRICs.
And if we take Boston Dynamics, then it is very different from the previous two cyberdogs, in that it is designed to work, to help with hard and dangerous work. Itcan also play the role of a pet, but more expensive and not able to perform tricks of such a plan as Xiaomi or QRIC.
In fact, for some people, such robots may already be more useful than a live dog. Robots can be programmed to do anything. Protect the territory and report to the owner how things are, when he is on vacation, even in another country. Show everything in real time. The robot can carry the load.
However, in my opinion, robots will never replace dogs, no matter how functional they are or at least we can’t compare a dog that has feelings and a robot that just does a programmed tasks.
References:
https://youtu.be/H1FgiAaA0Ck https://itc.ua/news/xiaomi-predstavila-chetveronogogo-robota-cyberdog-za-1540-on-mozhet-delat-salto-nazad-i-sledovat-za-hozyainom/ https://www.forbes.ru/newsroom/tehnologii/437091-xiaomi-pokazala-svoego-pervogo-robota-sobaku https://habr.com/ru/amp/post/521878/