A NEW BREED.(Nick Wirth's RoboDog)(Technology Information)

Engineers create a digitally designed watchdog

Establishing a new breed of a dog, especially one that can perform specific functions, can be a decades-long challenge. For instance, German pound keeper Louis Dobermann carefully bred his stock of mongrels, terriers, and herding dogs for years in the late 1800s before achieving his goal of the ideal companion/watchdog, known today as the Doberman Pinscher. Yet when designer Nick Wirth recently "engineered" his new breed of dog, he accomplished the feat in just seven months.

Through computer-aided design, Wirth created RoboDog, an electromechanical robotic dog believed to be the largest and most technically advanced autonomous "legged" robot sold commercially. Unlike the litters of interactive dog-like robotic toys such as Poo-Chi, which were introduced in the last few years, RoboDog is a breed apart in that it's a "working" dog rather than a mere toy. Standing 27 inches tall, RoboDog is the approximate size of an adult Labrador Retriever, yet it's strong enough to raise itself onto hits hind legs while lifting twice its own body weight of 26 pounds.

According to Wirth, RoboDog takes leading-edge technology out of the laboratories and puts it directly into people's homes. "We're working toward the universal robotic concept, where a lightweight machine that carries its own power source can be used for a variety of functional tasks," says Wirth, a former Formula One Grand Prix racecar designer, who co-founded RoboScience, creator of RoboDog.

"If a robot is ever going to complete specific tasks that will make our lives easier--such as emptying a dishwasher or scrubbing floors--it has to be large and strong enough to do these things, and it needs a significant run-time before its power supply runs out," Wirth continues. "No matter how sophisticated they get, those 6-inch robotic dogs that were the big trend last Christmas will never be powerful enough to perform meaningful tasks."

Not only bred for strength, the RoboDog is also intelligent. With an onboard PC, the robot can understand and act on 60 verbal instructions. An integrated camera and radio link enables the dog's owner to log on to the robot remotely via the Internet and "walk" the dog through its environment. In this "watchdog" mode, the owner can see and hear everything happening at the robot's location in real time. The robot can also see in color and read e-mails aloud, using a permanent wireless Internet connection. When placed in autonomous mode, RoboDog can "think" and act on its own, without human intervention.

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