In the high stakes work of bomb squads, success hinges on assessing a threat quickly, while keeping officers and people out of harm’s way. For the Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Sheriff’s bomb squad, using robots is a standard practice. However, when officers learned that Boston Dynamics’ agile robot, Spot®, could trek up and down steps, open doors, and navigate tight spaces, they recognized a robot with a revolutionary skill set. They purchased Spot in the spring of 2024.

“What attracted us to Spot was its mobility and its nimbleness,” said Lieutenant Allen Stewart, who leads the seven-member bomb squad. “Once we saw Spot’s ability to get into doors and get up steps, we thought, ‘This thing is amazing.'”

Multi-Agency Resource

Headquartered just outside Philadelphia, the Montgomery County Sheriff’s bomb squad is one of the busiest in the United States, ranking 25th out of 466 units. The team responds to calls involving bomb threats and suspicious packages across a 1,700 square-mile area including all or part of adjacent counties Chester, Delaware, and Bucks, totalling nearly two million residents. The bomb squad also provides support to SWAT, HAZMAT, and Search and Rescue teams within those same counties.

The bomb squad acquired Spot with the assistance of Boston Dynamics partner RADeCO, a custom robotics outfitter based in Connecticut that serves government and law enforcement agencies across the country. Stewart and his team not only wanted to use Spot to inspect explosives, but also to conduct reconnaissance inside buildings to locate barricaded suspects with more agility than traditional ground-based robots provide.

“Track robots are just motors, encoders, and a lead acid battery on tracks—basically a mechatronic device that carries a camera someplace,” said RADeCO CEO Keith Lovendale. “Spot is totally different. Now you have Autowalk capabilities and the ability to add all of these different payloads and sensors on it.”

Faster Than Ground-Based Robots

Spot joins two types of ground-based robots the bomb squad continues to utilize, the Andros F6A and the iRobot 110 FirstLook. These robots are most effective on flat surfaces, but struggle on uneven ground and are painstakingly slow going up steps. In fact, on one occasion while assisting a SWAT team, the bomb squad had to carry a 500 pound F6A robot up a flight of stairs because the steps were too steep. Spot, on the other hand, would have ascended the same flight of stairs in seconds, giving the team a superior tactical advantage.

“I would say it will take a good 20 minutes for the other robot systems to get up a normal flight of steps in a house,” said Stewart. “Spot is up there within a few seconds.”

An operator in a tactical vest drives Spot

Introducing Spot

As part of the approval process, Lovendale brought a Spot robot to the Montgomery County Sheriff’s public safety building for a demonstration in front of the bomb squad and the county board of commissioners. The commissioners saw the value of Spot right away, especially as a multi-disciplinary robot that could assist other agencies.

“They were all pretty much on board at that point, especially because Spot wasn’t just going to be for the bomb unit, but also loaned out, so to speak,” said Stewart. “Spot is going to be a good search tool if, God forbid, something should happen to one of our schools or religious locations. If we ever go into a situation like that with the SWAT team, Spot could be their eyes and ears.”

Vital Reconnaissance

While investigating a suspicious package or device, operators can view live video from Spot’s cameras and control the robot using a handheld tablet via WiFi or a third-party radio system, depending on the distance. Since Spot is already equipped with cameras and can carry payloads, there’s no need for an officer to put on a heavy bomb suit to investigate.

Officers can maneuver Spot into buildings and investigate hallways and rooms where they lack line of sight. Spot can also scan areas for secondary threats as it approaches a suspicious package.

If Spot locates and confirms an explosive device, the bomb squad can deploy a ground-based robot equipped with a specialized payload, such as a digital X-Ray scanner or a PANES (Percussion Actuated Non-electric) disrupter, which blasts a strong jet of water capable of rendering suspected devices safe.

A Spot robot places an x-ray scanner to inspect a suspicious package

Mapping Out Missions

In addition to responding to bomb threats, Stewart and the team are using Spot’s Autowalk capabilities to preemptively map out schools and houses of worship that intruders might attempt to enter. The officers drive Spot through a given building and identify the most advantageous routes for the robot to take in the case of an active shooter, for example. 

“That was an intriguing part of the conversation with the team at Montgomery County, saying they wanted to take Spot to potential targets, have it do the Autowalk so that the route is basically in its brain,” said Lovendale.

The process involves placing fiducial markers—which look similar to QR codes—on walls at strategic locations inside the building. These markers create a route for Spot to follow. A team member drives the robot from marker to marker as part of a single mission, much like training a dog to maneuver an obstacle course. 

The entire route is eventually recorded and stored in Spot’s memory. When later deployed, Spot will come to a given fiducial and understand exactly what to do next, such as take a picture before traveling to the next marker.

“The mapping of the school is actually much easier than we expected,” said deputy sheriff and bomb squad member John Cagliola. “It’s an awesome feature and it works every time, which is a good thing.”

“We have a robot that we could bring out to a scene and have it 100 percent capable of doing what we want to do immediately, instead of having to set things up. Just like a regular K-9, we take it out of the truck and it’s ready to go.”

Lieutenant Allen Stewart

Hitting the Ground Running

In the case of an active shooter or hostage situation, the bomb squad would bring Spot on site, with the Autowalk mission file selected and the robot charged up and ready to conduct an initial sweep. Each member of the bomb squad can operate Spot and the team brings the robot out on every call, whether it’s needed or not. 

“We have a robot that we could bring out to a scene and have it 100 percent capable of doing what we want to do immediately, instead of having to set things up,” said Stewart. “Just like a regular K-9, we take it out of the truck and it’s ready to go.”

Still a Working Dog

Stewart says the bomb squad doesn’t take Spot to many public relations events, preferring to maintain a low profile. Their focus is on continuing to put Spot through its paces, mapping more buildings and being ready to respond to any high risk call.

Spot’s successful deployment in Montgomery County is just one example of its versatility in the field of public safety. Whether inspecting suspicious packages, searching for accident victims, or inspecting toxic drug labs, Spot is enabling law enforcement and emergency responders around the world to gather insight and evidence efficiently, while keeping themselves and civilians out of harm’s way.

“It’s a remarkable tool,” said Stewart. “We’re just trying to take advantage of everything that we possibly can with it.”