Robotic dogs can spot invasive fire ant nests more efficiently than human searchers – and they can safely stir up a swarm of aggressive ants by poking their nests, which can help researchers identify the notorious pests. The red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta) packs a venomous sting, and causes billions of dollars in ecological and agricultural damage across the world each year. To combat the threat, researchers have been testing how a robotic dog combined with artificial intelligence can help detect the ants' …

Boston Dynamics, also known with various names of its robots such as Spot, Stretch, BigDog, and Atlas, is a company manufacturing versatile as well as unique robots that can form a plethora of tasks. Boston Dynamics is a product from MIT, and was created in 1992; from thereon, it functioned primarily on DARPA Research grants. Then, a change was seen in 2013, when Google acquired the company because of its interest in robotics and machine learning. Finally, however, Google sold off the company in the year 2017 to Softbank. According to a recent announcement by Hyundai Motor Group, Boston Dynamics has now been acquired by Hyundai, which would have a whopping 80% controlling stake in the company, and the remaining 20% would remain with Softbank the owner before this deal.

After listening to early adopters, Boston Dynamics gave its robot dog a hardware boost and extended WiFi capabilities. It can be controlled remotely using the company's new web browser-based interface, Scout. It's the first Boston Dynamics device equipped with self-charging capabilities and a dock, which means it can be deployed for longer-term missions "with little to no human interaction," Boston Dynamics said. The previous version of Spot had around 90 minutes of battery life before requiring a manual charge.

The Norwegian oil company Aker BP ASA has announced it will bring aboard the infamous robotic watchdog Spot on the company's ships in the Skarv region of the Norwegian Sea. According to Aker, Spot will be charged with sniffing out hydrocarbon leaks, inspecting ship equipment, taking mechanical readings, generating reports, and completing inspections in areas that might be too dangerous for human workers. Spot was developed by the Massachusetts-based robotics company Boston Dynamics, which specializes in developing autonomous and humanoid machines. The Norwegian oil company Aker BP ASA announced it will begin using Boston Dynamics' robotic watchdog on Spot (pictured above) to help monitor equipment on its ships in the Norwegian Sea'These things never get tired, they have a larger ability to adapt and to gather data,' Aker BP ASA's Kjetel Digre told Bloomberg. The announcement is part of the Aker's new emphasis on'digitalization,' which it hopes will make its ships safer and more productive.