Hyper Little Dog-Bot Might Be The World’s First Robot Chihuahua

Hyper Little Dog-Bot Might Be The World’s First Robot Chihuahua

Boston Dynamics’ SpotMini is the first robo-dog small enough to be your family’s first artificial pet — but it’s still about the size of a German Shepherd. What if you want a robo-dog that’s small enough to carry in a shoulder bag as a yappy fashion accessory? Say hello to PneuHound, which could very well be the world’s first robotic chihuahua.

Instead of using electric motors and servos, PneuHound is powered by pneumatics — air-filled pistons — which is what allows the robot to frantically scamper across the ground like a hyper little dog.

Developed at the Hosoda Laboratory at Osaka University, there is still some work needed to be done when it comes to steering PneuHound, at the moment it just runs into walls and people. But if you recently had to deal with the trauma of saying goodbye to your Sony Aibo robo-dog, there is at least a glimmer of hope that you’ll be able to love again soon.

[YouTube via IEEE Spectrum]


The Cheapest NBN 50 Plans

It’s the most popular NBN speed in Australia for a reason. Here are the cheapest plans available.

At Gizmodo, we independently select and write about stuff we love and think you'll like too. We have affiliate and advertising partnerships, which means we may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page. BTW – prices are accurate and items in stock at the time of posting.