Creation Of Robot Dogs To Patrol The U.S. Border

Gavin Kenneally, grew up inspired by Professor Full, who assisted him further during his undergraduate studies and connected him with his PhD advisor. After PhD, he co-founded Ghost Robotics where his team created robot dogs to patrol the U.S. border.

He describes: “What differentiates our technology is that our robots have the ability to feel the environment and terrain through the motors themselves. Typically, the way robotic arms and legged robots are built is with a very small motor, and then a very large gear ratio. Our robot dog’s motors are just inherently more robust and back drivable because of the much smaller gear ratio. This also lets the motors “feel” the ground without the need for any additional sensors, enabling the robots to traverse difficult terrain including sand, snow, ice, mud, and rocky slopes.

Our robot dogs weigh around 100lb and can last for three hours continuously walking at a pace of one meter per second. But that can be extended if there is standing or inspection time as well as walking. When the battery gets low, it returns back to what we call its “dog house” and sits on a wireless charging dock to charge while another robot dog deploys.”

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