New “Honey Badger” Robot Dog Can Walk Fully Underwater

The sound it makes it absolutely horrifying.

Water Boy

Engineers have developed a hardy quadripedal robot dog that can go for a brisk walk — across the bottom of a pool.

The robot, dubbed the Honey Badger, is the creation of a Polish robotics company called MAB Robotics, which developed it to aid during underwater inspections and provide “maintenance services in flooded areas,” according to a LinkedIn update by MAB Robotics CTO and cofounder Jakub Bartoszek.

A video shared by the company last week shows the robot stretching its legs as it clambers across the tiled floor of a swimming pool, producing an eerie sound that’s not unlike an unsettling horror movie soundtrack.

As if terrifying robot dogs with machine guns strapped to their backs weren’t dystopian enough, in other words, now not even fleeing over a body of water can save us.

 

Dog Wash

In case you were wondering why the company opted for a legged and not a finned swimming robot, the company claims on its website that the design is more suitable for “navigating unknown and unstructured terrains” and can “operate in environments where other types of mobile robots are insufficient, such as underground tunnels, narrow passages or waterlogged terrains.”

The Honey Badger is considerably smaller than Boston Dynamics’ Spot, at just 23 inches long and 19 inches tall. Despite its minute size, it’s outfitted with a thermal camera, a gas sensor, and LIDAR. It can survive at depths of up to 330 feet and can travel at just over 3 feet per second, the company says.

“The hardest part to seal was the robot’s actuators, where it was crucial to make them both lightweight and robust,” Bartoszek told New Atlas. “We developed several prototypes and tested them to identify their limits and expanded those limits with each version.”

“Today we know how to build a robot which can operate underwater, but still have a few ideas how to improve the solution further to improve reliability,” he added.

The Honey Badger has already been deployed in the field, Bartoszek told New Atlas, aiding during industrial inspections for a “water and sewage management” company.

“During our tests with partners, we’ve demonstrated that a quadrupedal robot is a great tool, and we’re working toward commercializing the solution,” he added.

More on robot dogs: The US Army Is Testing Killer Robot Dogs With AI-Powered Rifles in the Middle East