The Home Depot’s AI-Powered Robot Dog Sparks More Than Innovation
We kicked off February in full-force with an artificial intelligence (AI)-inspired activation right in the lobby of Centergy during lunchtime.
Our Coffee Talk: AI Robo-Dog invited The Home Depot innovation team, OrangeWorks (which resides in Tech Square!), to introduce their latest AI technology to our community. As members enjoyed complimentary Chick-fil-A, they also witnessed a demonstration from, funny enough, their robot dog, Demo.
Demo is a Unitree Go1 “dog,” which is the world’s first intelligence bionic quadruped robot of consumer level and can be used for a myriad of things. For OrangeWorks’ purposes, Demo is combined with laser technology to map warehouses and stores.
As Demo did tricks and greeted patrons in the lobby, Amy Hayes and Kent McArther of OrangeWorks spoke with attendees about their use of the robot and also about their internship program, which currently boasts 30 interns from 12 universities, all working hard on software engineering solutions!
As conversations flowed, new connections formed. An employee from Joulea, a startup we’ve teamed up with several times, brought to the lobby their Mid-360 Livox LiDAR, which provides a 360, 3D live perception of a space for mobile robot use. This allows the robots to avoid obstacles and to map a physical entity, similar to the technology that is attached to Demo. It was exciting to uncover that two different companies in the same space had similar technology for similar purposes!
On a more human level, Wellstar employee Lauren Oyster had such a great conversation with Amy regarding robotics and internships that an upcoming Power Meal with both of them is being scheduled. Similarly, Red Bull is working on designing an internship and staffing program, so their conversations with Amy were also highly coveted.
And coincidentally, the Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC)’s new group of robotics students happened to be visiting the building during this event, so they were beyond ecstatic to see a demonstration centered around their area of focus.
Of course, we also learned more about our community members as well, in regards to robots at least! Despite the majority of participants not actively working with robots, they did have a lot to say about what type of robot they would design:
What type of robot would you design? Let us know in the comments below.