Testing it out: Cai with a robot dog designed to help visually impaired people avoid obstacles. — The Straits Times/ANN
They detect intruders, inspect danger zones and guide the blind.
Robot dogs have found no shortage of work in Singapore – taking on jobs in underground maintenance areas, construction sites and even in social services.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, one such robot dog named Spot was deployed as a safe distancing ambassador in Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park. More recently, another robot dog accompanied PSP candidate Tony Tan on a walkabout as part of his election campaigning.
The trend here reflects the robot dog’s popularity globally, where more of such devices have been deployed as police dogs, in war zones and even in nuclear plants.
Robot dogs – or quadruped robots – were made popular by Boston Dynamics, a robotics firm spun off from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which launched Spot in 2016 after several iterations.
Since then, manufacturers – including several from China – have developed their own versions of Spot, which are often deployed in conditions deemed hazardous for humans.
In Singapore, National Robotics Programme (NRP) deputy director Chan U-Gene said more companies have deployed robot dogs here, especially for surveillance and inspection operations, amid the strong growth of the robotics sector.
Robot dogs are being trained as guide dogs for the visually impaired in trials by the National University of Singapore.
Machines are cheaper and easier to train than real guide dogs and, once the technology is ready, they will be more widely available, said robotics PhD student Cai Shaojun from the NUS Smart Systems Institute, noting the shortage and high cost of assistance dogs.
Cai said that unlike real dogs, robots can be programmed with artificial intelligence (AI) and image-recognition software to understand sophisticated verbal commands, such as leading a user to a supermarket or other specific locations.
His team has tested robot guide dogs with about a dozen visually impaired users and is training the robots to scale steps and navigate more challenging terrain.
Robot dogs have also found jobs as guard dogs. Unlike their real-life colleagues, the robots do not tire and are always alert.
They have patrolled the perimeter fence at Seletar Bus Depot since September 2024, said SBS Transit spokesperson Grace Wu.
Developed with Weston Robot, the robot named Mars is equipped with high-definition cameras, thermal imaging and other sensors to look out for intruders and signs that the fence has been tampered with, she added.
Robots are also first in line in hazardous locations. SPock, deployed by electricity and gas distribution company SP Group, tags along with inspectors, who check up to 6km of underground tunnels for anomalies.
Equipped with a range of sensors, SPock can identify issues beyond human visual capacity, such as tunnel cracks or dampness.
It allows the human inspectors to take a step back, minimising their exposure to potentially dangerous environments.
SBS Transit has also deployed robot dogs at Sengkang MRT Depot since July 2024 to scan undercarriages for open panels, loose oil tank caps and air leakages that are invisible to the naked eye.
Named Avatar – short for Advanced Video Analytics Train Assessment Robot – the robot inspects the underbelly of trains, freeing up time and reducing some backache for technicians.
The robot’s four-legged design is the ideal form for such tasks, as it can efficiently manoeuvre under carriages and climb stairs to inspect the inside of a train.
This technology has been deployed by NUS researchers to inspect the condition of staircases in housing blocks, scanning each step to ensure its height and depth are consistent.
The project is on track to be spun off into a start-up in the coming months, said project lead and senior lecturer Justin Yeoh. — The Straits Times/ANN
