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Learn what’s new in Spot and Orbit Release 5.1
5.1 helps Spot users accelerate their deployments with new workflows, enterprise level controls, and a refreshed data collection payload.
We envision a world where Spot & Orbit continuously learn about your facility in order to get even better over time. Orbit AIVI learning is the first step in that direction; this series of models, hosted by Boston Dynamics, will continue to improve based on the most valuable, common inspections Spot conducts. This cloud-hosted intelligence enables multiple, larger models that can update regularly without updating Orbit software. This means that new inspections can be added without disrupting existing workflows.
These enhancements bring improvements to our existing models, and also add new inspection capabilities like sight glass and pallet detection.
Additionally, we’re expanding AIVI to use images captured with Spot’s body and gripper cameras. This allows Spot customers with Spot Arm to leverage that additional reach to inspect dark or difficult to access areas, bringing even more flexibility to your inspections.
Our all new Spot Cam 2 payload brings the familiar capabilities of Spot Cam+IR with some key new features that give your optional acoustic imager all-new perspectives from Spot. This second generation Spot Cam now has a 4K pan-tilt-zoom camera with 25x optical zoom, an integrated radiometric thermal camera, and a 360 x 130º spherical camera.
The on-board accessory bay is compatible with Sorama L642 or Fluke SV600 acoustic imager—bringing more flexibility for sensor pointing for acoustic inspections. The accessory bay will allow for future payload attachments and integrations.
Finally, the new Spot Cam can be front or rear mounted, and is equipped with eight ultra-bright LED lights for illumination in dark environments.
In addition to monitoring critical equipment and facility compliance, 5.1 introduces security patrol as a new mission type. These missions offer visibility to customers seeking eyes on their operation during off-hours, or more security coverage in sensitive areas of their operation. If Spot detects a person during these patrol missions, the robot will pause, activate AV lights, capture PTZ, pano, and thermal images, trigger an alert, and resume its mission path.
Additional new mission behaviors mean Spot can pause, redirect, or end missions based on what it sees, no operator needed. Users can put up fiducials on mission paths that allow Spot to return to dock, or sit down and stay there indefinitely.
Customers have been using acoustic imaging on Spot for monitoring the performance of various critical equipment—using the same payload customers can look for change detection alerts on audio captures. Spot equipped with the Fluke SV600 or Sorama L642 will capture beamformed acoustic data from mechanical equipment—and develop and use a change detection algorithm to flag anomalies from its nominal state captures. Customers will be able to visualize these results over-time via a spectrogram.
With our new acoustic change detection feature, we are giving users the ability to monitor those changes over time—giving yet another perspective for asset condition insights.
We’ve expanded our robot behavior library from staircase and crosswalk actions to help take your Spot missions even further. With Door Opening, Spot has even more access to your facility without the use of an arm. Depending on your site’s automatic door configuration, Spot can now use both motion activated doors as well as access controlled. After on-site integration, you may enable Spot to pass through access controlled doors by adding actions to missions.
This feature has been deployed with 18 beta customers and has already opened 2,500 doors. We’re excited to see how far this takes your Spot missions this year!
We’re excited to announce additional features for Site View authoring—allowing users to create even more inspections directly from within Orbit.
Spot Cam and Spot Cam+IR users will be able to author new inspection actions for PTZ, thermal, and gauge reading directly from the Site View window in Orbit. Users no longer need to walk around their facility with Spot to record new inspection points. With the new Spot Cam 2, you’ll also be able to author acoustic (leak and vibration) inspections from within Site View.
With 5.1 customers using Spot equipped with Spot Cam 2, acoustic payload, and mechanical inspection license can now record a multi-modal mechanical inspection. Inspection actions will perform an acoustic mechanical inspection, a thermal inspection, and a short video recording, all targeting the same location. This provides users a single unified output of data in Orbit.
Also available new to Spot Cam 2 users, we are introducing the ability to capture thermal panoramas. Spot Cam 2 will capture a series of thermal images, and stitch them into a single inspection. The panoramas will appear as an overlay in Site View—giving you an additional spectrum of information from Spot.
We know customers love showing off Spot – whether at recruiting events, parades, and other community engagements. With 5.1, customers will have access to seven built-in demo dances, no additional license needed. Every customer can access these safe and reliable sequences from tablet with their upgrade to 5.1. When using this feature, operators should follow standard operating guidelines for Spot, running dances and emotes with safe distance from people.
If you’d like to learn more about 5.1 and our new Spot Cam, please join our upcoming webinar Beyond the Routine: Exploring Spot & Orbit 5.1
To learn more about what’s new in Spot and Orbit:
Update your software: Spot v5.1 Release Notes
Learn more in our webinar: Beyond the Routine
Recent Blogs
•45 min watch
Beyond the Routine
•9 min read
A Retrospective on Uses of Boston Dynamics’ Spot Robot
Predicting Bearing Failures with Acoustic Vibration Sensing
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