Fast and obedient, it neither barks nor bites, and especially, never leaves unpleasant surprises on the ground. The AlphaDog robot dog is the answer to two of the great passions of the Chinese: pets and technology.
Equipped with detectors, it works thanks to artificial intelligence, which allows you to “feel” and “see” your environment.
Although it has no head or tail, “it’s like a real dog,” sums up Ma Jie, head of technology at Nanjing-based Weilan, the capital of eastern China’s Jiangsu Province. devised the prototype.
With a top speed of 15 kilometers per hour, AlphaDog claims to be the fastest on the market and its four metal legs give it greater stability than a dog, say its designers who – as a demonstration – they kick the robot.
The robot evolves freely in its environment using 5G mobile internet, with an ultra-fast response time. “It detects friction and ground tilt level to adjust its height and speed,” says Ma Jie, as the demonstrator robot moves slowly but steadily down a ladder.
– Dog or employee in a factory –
Ma Jie studied reinforced learning at Oxford University, a technique derived from behavioral psychology that allows “training” of artificial intelligence that controls a robbery through rewards or punishments, such as in dog training. .
AlphaDog reconciles two areas of widespread interest in China today: technology and pets.
The latter had disappeared from circulation in the first decades of the communist regime, but have returned strongly in the last 20 years.
As a result, more than 1,800 AlphaDogs were sold in its first month of marketing, for the coquettish sum of 16,000 yuan (about $ 2,400).
“The commissions come mainly from computer developers, technology lovers, but also from kids who really seem to adore them,” Ma Jie points out.
While Beijing is investing heavily in new technologies, especially artificial intelligence, robots are already present in the daily lives of the Chinese as package distributors, servers in restaurants or even in charge of covid-19 detection tests. .
Over time, the creators of the robot dog set out to put it at the service of the blind. “When you have the dialogue function, you will be able to communicate with the disabled and take them to the supermarket or the bus stop,” adds Ma Jie.
In the “company” version, 1 larger AlphaDog can be used in the inspection of industrial machines or pipes.
The next generation could also see the robot endowed with a “personality” of the customer’s choice, either docile and companion like a poodle or rather aggressive like the pit bull.